

















>^ 



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TRANSACTIONS 



OP THE 




ASSACHUSETTS TEACHERS' 



ASSOCIATION. 



EDITED BY THE SECRETARY, 

UNDBR THB DIBECTION OP THE COMMITTEB OP PUBLICATIOIT.. 



■•^.^^ ,-_ 



VOL. I.— 1845-184T. 



BOSTON: 

PUBLISHED BY SAMUEL COOLIDQE, 
No. 16 Devonbhieb Street. 

1852. 



'\^ 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1852, by 

CHARLES J. CAPEN, 

SECRETARY OF THE MASSACHUSETTS TEACHERS' ASSOCUTIOIT, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 



PREFACE. 



The MassacliTisetts Teacliers' Association owes Its origin to a 
similar institution in Essex County. For a period of fifteen 
years previous to its formation, an association of teachers had 
existed in that part of the State, enjoying a success almost 
unexampled in the history of Educational Associations. Formed 
in 1830, a year memorable in the annals of education for the 
establishment of the American Institute of Instruction, its pros- 
perity has been as signal as that of its contemporary, and it has 
served a period of usefulness which entitles it to enduring fame. 

Convinced from experience that the cause of education 
depended for its advancement, in a great measure, upon the 
associated influence of its friends, and that, in its comparatively 
humble sphere, their own society had subserved a highly useful 
purpose, some of the prominent teachers of Essex County 
conceived the design of founding an institution which should 
exert an influence in the Conunonwealth commensurate with its 
more extensive sphere of action. Accordingly, in 1845, a 
circular was Issued, inviting the attention of the friends of 
education to the subject, and proposing that a Convention should 
be held in Worcester. The Convention met, and the Association 
was formed. How far the plan has been successful in the 



IV PREFACE. 

accomplisliment of its objects, may be judged from the Transac- 
tions of tbe Association, and from its present condition of 
usefulness. 

It might be deemed a work of supererogation, at the present 
day, to offer views in evidence of the utility of Teachers' 
Associations : that utility is too obvious. Since the establishment, 
in 1799, in IMiddletown, Connecticut, of the first Association of 
practical teachers ever convened in this country, down to the 
present day, the idea has been gaining ground that societies of 
this character form one of the most effectual of outward appli- 
ances; and under a full faith in this idea. Associations have 
been formed, in various parts of the country, having for their 
general objects the improvement of teachers, and the advance- 
ment of the cause of education. So popular has the movement 
become, that nearly every County in Massachusetts has availed 
itself of this instrumentality in the promotion of that cause 
which, next to the Christian religion, may command the attention 
of mankind. 

The Massachusetts Teachers' Association has been, and is still 
destined to be, productive of much good In the Commonwealth. 
By the assembling of teachers once a year from all parts of the 
State, an acquaintance which no other means could promote. Is 
cultivated, and a bond of fraternal sympathy instituted which 
time cannot sever : the experience of many is collected and 
spread out for the benefit of all: advantageous methods of 
instruction and discipline become known, and are adopted ; 
defective ones are exposed, and abandoned. Other professions, 
and men of all caUings, engraft improvements upon the social 
system through the proper channel, the Legislature of the State. 
But it still remains for teachers, as a profession, to avail them- 



PREFACE. V 

selves, tlirough their Associations, of tMs means of advocating a 
cause wliicli we are all laboring to promote, and which depends 
for its progress so much upon legislative enactment. 

To the liberality of the State, the Association is indebted for its 
eflfective means of usefulness. Without such aid, it is doubtful 
whether it could have become permanent. Through her bounty, 
it has been enabled to publish the " Transactions," and thereby 
give an extensive circulation to sound and practical views, and 
furnish to beginners valuable instruction in the art of teaching : 
it has been enabled to encourage effort on the part of teachers, 
and induce them to contribute valuable and practical essays. For 
these means of usefulness, and for the many other incidental 
advantages springing from her liberality, let us pay a grateful 
tribute to our beloved Commonwealth. 

Another benefit which the Association has conferred upon the 
cause of Education, is the establishment of the " Massachusetts 
Teacher," a Journal devoted to the dissemination of sound views 
on Educational topics. By the labor and care of a few promi- 
nent teachers in the State, it was nobly sustained during the first 
years of its existence under circumstances highly adverse. It 
has since prospered, and been secured upon a firm basis ; so that, 
from a subscription list of but two hundred and fifty names in 
1848, it now numbers nearly two thousand. 

The plan of publishing the proceedings which was suggested 
at the close of the meeting in 1850, owing to some informality, 
failed. At the meeting in 1851, it was revived, and the whole 
subject was referred to the Board of Directors, by whom the 
work of editing was delegated to a special committee. 

The omission of two of the Lectures delivered before the 
Association, one by Mr. S. S. Greene, on " Teaching Grammar," 



VI PREFACE. 

and the other by Mr. Sherwin, on " The Influence of Example in 
Education," — also a Eeport of ]\Ir. Samuel W. Bates on " The 
means conducive to the highest degree of Intellectual Improve- 
ment," is a subject of much regret. These productions would 
have greatly enhanced the value of the work, as they would 
have spread out before the teacher a large amount of practical 
knowledge on their respective subjects. It need not be said 
that this omission was owing to circumstances wholly beyond 
the control of the authors and of the Committee. A complete 
index of subjects has been added to the work with a view to 
make it more acceptable on account of convenience for ready 
reference. 

With these prefatory remarks, the work is presented to the 
public under the firm conviction on the part of the Committee 
that it will commend itself to the consideration of every teacher, 
and wiU prove a valuable addition to the educational works of 
the day. 

Levi Keed, 

Charles Northend, Committee 
JosiAH A. Stearns, V of 
John D. Philbrick, Publication. 
Chas. J. Capen, 

Boston, Nov. 12th, 1852. 



CONTENTS. 



« 



ORIGIN OF THE ASSOCIATION, '"'g 

PEOCEEDINGS OF THE ASSOCIATION. 

FIRST ANNUAL SESSION, 21 

SECOND ANNUAL SESSION, 27 

THIRD ANNUAL SESSION, , 171 

LECTURES. 

I. 

ON THE CLAIMS OF TEACHING TO THE RANK OF A 
DISTINCT PROFESSION. By Elbeidge Smith, 37 

n. 

ON THE FIRST PRINCIPLES OF SCHOOL GOVERN- 
MENT. By Rev. J. P. Cowles 67 

III. 

ON THE MANAGEMENT OF THE SCHOOL-ROOM. By 
Abiel Pakish, 93 

IV. 

ON THOROUGH INSTRUCTION. By Joseph Hale, 139 

V. 

ON 'THE RELATION OF EDUCATION TO ITS AGE. By 
Samuel W. Bates, 179 

VI. 

ON THE RELATION OF COMMON SCHOOLS TO HIGHER 
SEMINARIES. By Rev. Charles Hammond, 221 

vn. 

ON TEACHING AS A PROFESSION. By Nelson Wheeler, 261 

CONSTITUTION, 293 

INDEX .....295 



ORIGIN OF THE ASSOCIATION. 



The following Circular, and subsequent Journal of 
Proceedings in Convention, will explain the origin of 
the Association. 

Salem, Nov. 3d, 1845. 
Sir: 

At a recent meeting of the " Essex County Teach- 
ers' Association," the undersigned were appointed a com- 
mittee, for the purpose of calling a Convention of practical 
Teachers, with a view to the organization of a State Associa- 
tion, the memhersbip of wbich shall be limited to actual 
Teachers. It is the opinion of the Association which we rep- 
resent, that much good results from organized meetings of 
Teachers, at which discussions of a truly practical nature 
are made prominent. We feel that our own Association, 
formed more than sixteen years ago, has, in a quiet and 
unobtrusive manner, done much for the cause of education 
in our County, and we are desirous that a State organization 
may be formed, which shall exert a similar and more extend- 
ed influence. Such an Association will bring together Teach- 
ers from various parts of the State, and among them will be 
men of sound views and large experience, who will be ready 
to impart of their abundance for the common good. In this 



10 JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS. 

way, whatever of excellence may exist in one part of the 
State, will be diffused through other parts. 

"We believe that such an Association will meet the hearty 
approval of all who are engaged in teaching, and especially of all 
who are employed in the instruction of Public Schools. We do, 
therefore, in accordance with the expressed wish of our Coun- 
ty Association, most cordially and earnestly invite you to 
meet us in Convention, at Brinley Hall, in Worcester, on 
Monday evening, 24th instant, at 6 1-2 o'clock, then and 
there to consider the expediency of forming a State Associa- 
tion of Practical Teachers. The meeting will continue 
through the 25th inst. 

Please to extend to Teachers in your vicinity, an invitation 
to meet as above. 

(Signed) Charles Northekd, 

David P. Gallocp, 

R. S. Howard, 

E. S. Stearns, 

Edfus Putnam, 
Committee of Essex County Teachers^ Association. 

In pursuance of the foregoing call, a Convention of 
practical Teachers from various parts of the State, 
assembled at Brinley Hall, in Worcester, on Monday, 
November 24th, 1845. 

The Convention was called to order by Mr. North- 
end, of Salem, who opened the meeting by stating the 
objects of the call for a Convention. A temporary 
organization was effected by the choice of Mr. Carlton, 
of Salem, as Chairman, and Mr. Samuel Swan, of Bos- 
ton, as Secretary. 

A Committee consisting of Messrs. Galloup, of Salem, 
W. D. Swan, of Boston, and P. H. Sweetser, of Charles- 



JOURNAL OF PEOCEEDINGS. 11 

town, having been appointed to nominate a list of offi- 
cers for the Convention, reported as follows : 

For President, Oliver Carlton, of Salem. Vice- 
Presidents, Thomas Sherwin, of Boston, Ariel Parish, 
of Springfield, Barnum Field, of Boston, Warren La- 
zelle, of Worcester, E. S. Stearns, of Newburyport, 
and P. H. Sweetser, of Charlestown. Secretary, Samuel 
Swan, of Boston. Assistant Secretaries, Winslow Bat- 
tles, of Boston, W. K. Yaill, of Springfield. 

The report was accepted, and the gentlemen nomi- 
nated were elected. 

It was voted, on motion of Mr. Greenleaf, of Bradford, 
that each session of the Convention be opened with 
prayer, and closed by singing " Old Hundred." 

The Throne of Grace was then addressed by Rev. 
Mr. Davis, of Westfield. 

Messrs. Greene, of Boston, Alvord, of Springfield, 
and Fairfield, of Salem, were appointed a Committee on 
enrolment. 

After some discussion as to what should constitute 
membership, it was voted, on motion of Mr. Sweetser, 
of Charlestown, that all actual teachers present, be 
considered as members of the Convention, and that it 
be left to their own judgment to decide upon their in- 
dividual qualifications. 

A letter from the Albany County [N. Y.] Teachers' 
Association was read, conveying its assurance of sympa- 
thy with the Convention in the objects for which it was 
assembled, and certifying the appointment of Messrs. 
Valentine, Bulkley, and Anthony, to attend the meet- 
ing as delegates from said Association. 



12 JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS. 

The above-mentioned gentlemen were invited to take 
seats in the Convention. 

Mr. Sweetser, of Charlestown, offered the following : 

Resolved, That it is expedient that this Convention proceed 
to form a State Teachers' Association. 

After remarks by Mr. Peirce, of West Newton, 
against it, and by Messrs. Thayer, of Boston, Green- 
leaf, of Bradford, Hathaway, of Medford, Northend, 
of Salem, Parish, of Springfield, W. D. Swan, of Bos- 
ton, Bulkley, of Albany, [N. Y.,] Bates, of Dudley, 
Wells, of Andover, Walker, of Brookfield, and Russell, 
of Boston, in its favor, the resolution was adopted. 

Reporters for the press were invited to sit at the 
Secretary's table. 

After the appointment of Messrs. Northend, S. S. 
Greene, E. S. Stearns, Parish, and Lazelle, as a Com- 
mittee to draft a Constitution for a State Association, 
and Messrs. Wells, of Andover, Hathaway, of Medford, 
Galloup, of Salem, and Hale and Swan, of Boston, as a 
Committee to prepare business for the next session, the 
Convention adjourned to meet on Tuesday morning. 

Brinley Hall, Tuesday, Nov. 25th, 1845. 

At 9 o'clock the Convention was opened with prayer 
by Rev. Mr. Allen, of Worcester, and the records of 
yesterday's session were read by the Secretary. 

Teachers present from other States were invited to 
t&ke seats in the Convention. 

It was voted that no member be allowed more than ten 
minutes at any one time in speaking, nor be allowed to 



JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS. 13 

speak twice on the same question, except hj special 
permission. 

Mr. Northend, of Salem, presented a letter from 
Mr. Page, of Albany, which was read as follows : 

Albany, Nov. 15th, 1845. 
Dear Sir : 

I hasten to acknowledge the receipt of an in- 
vitation to attend a Convention of Teachers, to be held in 
Worcester, on the 24th instant, — an invitation proceeding 
from the Essex County Teachers' Association, of which you 
are the Chairman. 

My heart almost instinctively goes out after whatever per- 
tains to the progress of Common Schools, and the elevation 
of the Teacher's profession, and especially when that move- 
ment proceeds from the ''Ancient and honorable " organiza- 
tion, — the " Essex County Teachers' Association." To that 
Association I have reason to feel deeply indebted. Till 
within a year, a member of it almost from its infancy, its 
semiannual meetings returned just in time to meet my wants, 
to refresh my spirit, to excite my aspirations, and to enlight- 
en my future path, by the teachings of wisdom which were 
there wont to be supplied. I rejoice for the Teachers of 
Massachusetts, to whom I still cling with feelings of brother- 
hood, that there is now a movement to extend all over the 
State the blessings so long enjoyed in your corner of it. I 
trust your call will meet the hearty response of all those who 
esteem the dignity of the Teacher's profession, and that you 
will have a full and profitable meeting. Nothing would af- 
ford me greater pleasure than the privilege of joining with 
you on the 24th instant, but as I am in the midst of a term, 
with some two hundred minds in the course of training for 
the same great work, I feel that I should do wrong to leave 
my post even for such a privilege. 



14 JOURNAL or PROCEEDINGS. 

May Heaven smile on your deliberations, and so direct them 
that the cause of right education may be in the highest degree 
promoted, and that those who are to minister at the sacred 
altar, may go away both encouraged and enlightened. 

Accept for yourself and the other members of the Commit- 
tee, the assurance of the personal regard of your friend, 

D. P. Page. 
To Chas. Noethend, Esq., 

President of Essex County Association. 

The following resolution, offered by Mr. S. S. 
Greene, was unanimously adopted. 

Resolved, That we regard Mr. Page as the firm friend of 
popular education, and, believing him eminently qualified for 
his present situation, our best wishes attend him. 

The President then read the following letter from 
Mr. Abbott, of New York. 

New York City, Nov. 24th, 1845. 
To the Committee of the Essex Co. Teachers' Association. 
Gentlemen, — Your favor of Nov. 3d was received on 
the 15th instant. I regret that a severe but temporary indis- 
position has prevented an earlier reply. I have not been 
without the hope that I might be present on the interesting 
occasion of forminoj the Massachusetts Teachers' Association. 
I hail such an organization as full of promise to the State and 
to the country. My best wishes are with you, but circum- 
stances prevent my attendance. I shall be happy in any way 
in my power to further your efforts in the great work of 
training young America for the part she is to perform, of the 
still greater part in elevating and blessing a benighted world. 
I am, gentlemen, with much respect, yours sincerely, 

GORHAM D. AeBOTI. 



JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS. 15 

The Committee appointed for tlie purpose, reported a 
Constitution ; and after each article had been separate- 
ly considered and discussed, the following was unani- 
mouslj adopted. 

CONSTITUTION, 

Aeticle 1. This Society shall he called the Massachu- 
setts Teachers' Association, and shall have for its objects the 
improvement of Teachers, and the advancement of the inter- 
ests of popular education. 

Article 2. Any practical male teacher, of good moral 
character, within this Commonwealth, may become a member 
of the Association, by signing this Constitution, and paying 
an admission fee of one dollar. 

Article 3. Each member shall be furnished with a certif- 
icate of membership, having the seal of the Association and 
the signature of the Eecording Secretary ; and any member 
in good standing, shall, at his own req^uest, receive a certifi- 
cate of honorable discharge. 

Article 4. Ladies engaged in teaching, shall be invited 
to attend the regular meetings of the Association. 

Article 5. The annual meetings of the Association shall 
be held at such place and time as the directors may designate, 
and notice shall be given at the previous meeting. 

Article -6. The officers of the Association shall be a 
President, fourteen Vice Presidents, a Eecording and a Cor- 
responding Secretary, a Treasurer and twelve Counsellors, 
who, with the President and Secretaries, shall constitute a 
Board of Directors. These officers shall be elected by ballot 
at the annual meeting. 

Article 7. It shall be the duty of the President to preside 
at all meetings of the Association, provided, however, that in 
his absence, or at his request, one of the Vice Presidents 
shall preside. 



16 JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS. 

Article 8. The Recording Secretary sball keep a record 
of the doings of -the Association, and of the Directors, and 
shall notify all meetings. 

Article 9. The Corresponding Secretary, subject to the 
order of the Directors, shall be the organ of communication 
with other societies and with individuals. 

Article 10. The Treasurer shall collect and receive all 
moneys for the Association, and shall present a written report 
of his receipts and disbursements at the annual meeting, and 
whenever required by the Board of Directors. He shall 
make no payment except by order of the Board. 

Article 11. The Board of Directors shall have the gen- 
eral superintendence of the interests of the Association, with 
authority to devise and carry into execution such measures 
as will, in their opinion, promote its objects. They shall 
engage suitable persons to deliver addresses and lectures at 
the meetings of the Association, and make necessary arrange- 
ments for the acpommodation of the Annual and other meet- 
ings. 

Article 12. The Constitution may be altered at any 
regular meeting, by a vote of two-thirds of the members pres- 
ent at said meeting and voting thereon, — provided that the 
motion for amendment shall be made at a previous meeting. 

On motion of Mr. Thayer, of Boston, it was voted, 
that the officers of this Convention, assembled to form 
an Association, be authorized to call the first meeting of 
the Association, immediately after the Convention is dis- 
solved. 

Messrs. Galloup, of Salem, Thayer and Greene, of 
Boston, Batchelder, of Lynn, Hathaway, of Medford, 
Lazelle, of Worcester, Parish, of Springfield, Cowles, of 
Ipswich, and Stearns, of Newburyport, were appointed 



JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS. 17 

a Committee to nominate a list of officers for the Asso- 
ciation. 

The thanks of the Convention, on motion of Mr. 
Thajer, were presented to the President for the digni- 
ty, impartiality, and fairness with which he had per- 
formed the arduous duties of his office. 

Messrs. Bates, of Dudley, Bates, of Boston, and Wells, 
of Andover, were appointed a Committee to report on 
the means conducive to the highest degree of intel- 
lectual improvement. 

The Convention then adjourned to meet at 2 o'clock. 

Afternoon Session. 

At 2 o'clock the Convention met, and immediately 
dissolved. 

(Signed) Samuel Swan, 

Secretary of Convention. 



2* 



PROCEEDINGS OF THE ASSOCIATION. 



FIRST AMUAL SESSION. 



The Massachusetts Teachers' Association was called 
to order at Brinlej Hall, in Worcester, Nov. 25th, 1845, 
at 2 1-2 o'clock, P. M., by Mr. Josiah A. Stearns, of 
Boston. 

Mr. Thomas Sherwin, of Boston, was appointed Chair- 
man, and Mr. George Allen, Jr., Secretary, ^ro tern. 

The following resolution, submitted by Mr. Joshua 
Bates, Jr., of Boston, was unanimously adopted. 

Resolved, That we sincerely approve of the late movements 
of the Teachers in the State of New York, in the formation 
of a State Teachers' Association ; and that they have the 
sympathies and cooperation of the Massachusetts Teachers' 
Association in all their efforts to promote the general interests 
of Common School Education. 

Mr. Galloup, Chairman of the Committee on nomina- 
tions, reported a list of officers, which was accepted, 
and that gentleman was instructed to provide printed 
ballots. 

Mr. Bates, of Dudley, submitted a report on " The 
means conducive to the highest desirable degree of In- 
tellectual Education ; " which was adopted. 



22 JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS. 

The following resolutions, submitted by Mr. Peirce, 
of West Newton, were adopted. 

^ Besolved, As the sense of this Association, that the 
American Institute of Instruction, for the important service 
it has done, is entitled to the gratitude of all friends of 
education. 

Resolved, As the sense of this Association, that the State 
Teachers' Association is not formed to contravene the opera- 
tions of the American Institute of Instruction, or of any other 
literary association, but rather to cooperate with it, in one 
great and good cause. 

Mr. "Wells, of Audover, submitted the following reso- 
lutions on school discipline. 

1st, Resolved, That the subject of school discipline is one 
of incalculable importance at all times, not only to teachers, 
but to the whole community ; that the spirit of subordina- 
tion to rightful authority is the first element of true freedom, 
and that the permanency of our free institutions rests, in no 
small degree, upon the coiTCct discipline and healthful influ- 
ence of the nursery and the school-room. 

2d, Resolved, That it is the duty of this Association to ex- 
press in unequivocal terms its sentiments on this subject. 

3f?, Resolved, That^ at the present time especially, teachers 
suffer much embarrassment from the irresolute, wavering 
opinions which prevail in the community on the suljcct of cor- 
poral punishment, and that unless more sympathy and sup- 
port are offered to teachers, in enforcing the wholesome re- 
straints of the rod when necessary, the evils of anarchy and 
insubordination will ere long greatly increase in the adult 
community. 

4:th, Resolved, That, not only as an Association, but as iu- 
dividual teachers, we owe our most sincere and active efforts 



JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS. 23 

to maintain wbat is right, and to correct what is wrong in the 
views of the community on this subject. 

f)th. Resolved, That we regard it as one of the highest 
duties of our profession, to exercise the wholesome restraints of 
disciplinary control, in whatever form the nature of the case 
may demand ; and that all attempts to render the judicious 
use of the rod odious in the estimation of the public, tend to 
paralyze the free discretionary action of the teacher, to cramp 
his authority, and greatly to abridge his influence and suc- 
cess. 

These resolutions were laid on the table. 

The Association then adjourned to meet at 7 o'clock. 

Evening Session. 

The Association met according to appointment, and 
was called to order, Mr. P. H. Sweetser in the chair. 

The election of officers was proceeded with, and the 
following gentlemen were unanimously chosen. 

For President, Oliver Carlton, of Salem. Vice 
Presidents, Thomas Sherwin, of Boston, David P. Gal- 
loup, of Salem, A. K. Hathaway, of Medford, Levi 
Reed, of Roxbury, Warren Lazelle, of Worcester, G. 
F. Thayer, of Boston, Emerson Davis, of Westfield, 
Lucius Lyon, of Shelburne Falls, James Ritchie, of 
Duxbury, George N. Walton, of Martha's Vineyard, 
Joshua Bates, Jr., of Boston, Calvin S. Pennell, of 
Cabotville, Nelson Wheeler, of Worcester, and Wm. 
Russell, of Andover. Secretary, Chas. Northend, of 
Salem. Recording Secretary, Sam'l Swan, of Boston. 
Treasurer, Josiah A. Stearns, of Boston. Counsellors, 
Ariel Parish, of Springfield, Samuel S. Greene, of 



24 JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS. 

Boston, E. S. Stearns, of Newburjport, Thomas 
Gushing, Jr., of Eoston, Eufus Putnam, of Salem, 
John Batchelder, of Ljnn, ^\m. H. Wells, of Andover, 
Wra. D. Swan, of Boston, Elbridge Smith, of Worces- 
ter, Jas. B. Batcheller, of Marblehead, P. H. Sweet- 
ser, of Charlestown, J. P. Cowles, of Ipswich. 

The Board of Directors, on motion of Mr. Northend, 
were requested to petition the next Legislature for an 
act of incorporation ; and, on motion of Mr. Field, of 
Boston, to petition also for pecuniary aid. 

Mr. Wells's resolutions on school discipline were 
taken from the table, and unanimously adopted. 

Mr. Sweetser, of Charlestown, offered the following 
preamble and resolution, which were unanimously 
adopted. 

Wliereas, It is an established fact, that civilization and 
refinement, morality and religion, have followed the introduc- 
tion of the Bible wherever its principles have been received, 
and its claims acknowledged, therefore, 

Resolved, That in the opinion of this Association, the Bible, 
or selections from it, including such parts as relate to the high- 
est interests of man, and are calculated to fit him for the 
various duties of life, ought to be introduced as a text-book 
into our public and private schools. 

The next meeting of the Association was announced 
to take place at Worcester, on Monday and Tuesday 
of Thanksgiving week, 1846. 

On motion of Mr. Greene, a Committee was appoint- 
ed to report at the next meeting, on the expediency of 
establishing a Teachers' Journal, and Messr?. Greene, 



JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS. 25 

Northend, Sweetser, Lazelle and Field, constituted 
the Committee. 

Mr. J. Waldock, of Medford, offered the following 
resolution, which was adopted. 

Resolved, That we fully appreciate the importance of se- 
curing the sympathy and cooperation of practical female 
teachers throughout the Commonwealth, in furtherance of our 
efforts for the advancement of the interests of education ; that 
we fully value the lessons which their ohservation and ex- 
perience t^ach them, as highly as any that may result from 
our own ; and that we respectfully solicit them to impart to us 
of their abundance, by written communications, at the regular 
meetings of the Association, or through any organ of the in- 
stitution that may be hereafter established. 

Prayer was then offered by Rev. Mr. Cowles, of 
Ipswich, and the Association adjourned. 

(Signed) Samuel Swan, Secretary, 



SECOND ANNUAL SESSION. 



The Second Annual Session of the Association was 
held at Brinley Hall, in Worcester, commencing on 
Monday evening, November 23d, 1846. 

The meeting was called to order by the President, 
Mr. Oliver Carlton, of Salem, and after the reading of 
the Secretary's report, the Throne of Grace was ad- 
dressed by Rev. Mr. Smalley, of Worcester. 

The usual courtesy was extended to the reporters 
for the press. 

Mr. Elbridge Smith, of Worcester, then delivered 
a lecture on " The Claims of Teaching to the rank of 
a Distinct and Independent Profession ; " after which 
the subject of the lecture was discussed by Messrs. 
Thayer and Field, of Boston, Smith, of Worcester, and 
Greenleaf, of Bradford. 

It was voted that no member be allowed to speak 
more than once on the same subject, nor longer than 
ten minutes except by special vote of the Association. 

It was voted that any practical teacher present, 
not a member of the Association, but intending to be- 
come such, be invited to participate in the discussion 
of the evening. 



28 JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS. 

An invitation to participate in the discussions was 
extended to practical Teachers present from other 
States. 

The discussion on the subject of the lecture was re- 
sumed, and concluded by Messrs. ^Ym. D. Swan, of 
Boston, Sweetser, of Charlestown, Merrill and Richard- 
son, of Connecticut, and Isaac F. Shepard, of Boston. 

Messrs. Swan, of Suffolk, Dame, of Essex, Reed, of 
Norfolk, Sweetser, of Middlesex, Smith, of Worcester, 
Pennell, of Hampden, Rowe, of Berkshire, Edson, of 
Hampshire, and Ritchie, of Plymouth, were appointed a 
Committee on nomination of officers. 

The Association then adjourned to 8 1-2 o'clock, 
on Tuesday. 

Tuesday Morning, Nov. 24th, 1846. 

The Association having been called to order by the 
President, 

The Committee on nomination reported a list of 
officers for the ensuing year, and their report was ac- 
cepted. Twelve o'clock was assigned as the hour for 
the choice of officers. 

Mr. Thayer, of Boston, offered a proposition to amend 
the sixth article of the Constitution, by striking out the 
words " with the President and Secretaries, " so as to 
make the Board of Directors comprise all the officers of 
the Association. 

Rev. J. P. Cowles, of Ipswich Female Seminary, then 
delivered an address ; subject, " The First Principles 
of School Government, " Mr. Thayer, of Boston, being 
in the chair. After a discussion hj Rev. Messrs. Pierce 



JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS. 29 

and Cowles, of views advanced in the lecture, the 
subject was laid on the table. 

After a recess of ten minutes, the President having 
resumed the chair, Mr. S. S. Greene, of Boston, deliv- 
ered a lecture on " Teaching Grammar ; " and after 
remarks by Messrs. Andrews and Field, on the subject 
of the lecture, the hour of twelve o'clock having 
arrived, the Association proceeded to the choice of offi- 
cers, and the following gentlemen were elected. 

President, Oliver Carlton, of Salem. Yice Presi- 
dents, Thomas Sherwin, of Boston, D. P. Galloup, of 
Salem, Levi Reed, of Roxbury, George B. Emerson, of 
Boston, Lucius Lyon, of Shelburne Falls, James Ritchie, 
of Duxbury, Joshua Bates, Jr., of Boston, Calvin S. 
Pennell, of Cabotville, Nelson Wheeler, of Worcester, 
A. K. Hathaway, of Medford, William Seaver, of 
Quincy, Henry K. Edson, of Hadley, D. S. Rowe, of 
Westfield, and Charles Hammond, of Monson. Cor- 
responding Secretary, Charles Northend, of Salem. 
Recording Secretary, Samuel Swan, of Boston. Treasu- 
rer, Josiah A. Stearns, of Boston. Counsellors, Ariel 
Parish, of Springfield, Samuel S. Greene, of Boston, 
E. S. Stearns, of Newburyport, Thomas Cushing, Jr., 
of Boston, Wm. D. Swan, of Boston, Rufus Putnam, 
of Salem, Daniel Mansfield, of Cambridge, Wm. H. 
Wells, of Andover, Elbridge Smith, of Worcester, 
James B. Batcheller, of Marblehead, P. H. Sweetser, 
of Charlestown, and J. P. Cowles, of Ipswich. 

The Treasurer made his annual report, which was 
accepted, and Messrs. W. D. Swan, Allen, and E. S, 
Stearns, were appointed a Committee to examine into 



30 JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS. 

the condition of the Treasury, and to report what meas- 
ures, if any, were necessary to meet the expenses of the 
Association. 

Adjourned to 2 o'clock, P. M. 

Tuesday Afternoox. 

The Association was called to order by the Presi- 
dent. 

.Mr. Allen, from the Committee on Finance, reported 
that said Committee had attended to their assigned 
duty, and had found no further action necessary. 

The report was accepted, and the Committee dis- 
charged. 

The subject of School Government was then resumed 
and discussed by Messrs. Cowles, of Ipswich, Peirce, of 
West Newton, Hale, of Boston, and Leach, of Randolph. 

Mr. Smith, in behalf of the School Committee of 
"Worcester, invited the members of the Association to 
inspect the school-house and apparatus belonging to 
the Classical and English High School. 

At 3 o'clock, Mr. Ariel Parish, of Springfield, 
delivered a lecture on " The Management of the 
School-room. " 

After a recess of five minutes, Mr. Bates, of Boston, 
in the chair, the subject of Mr. Parish's lecture was 
taken up and fully discussed by Messrs. Field, Green- 
leaf, and S. Bates, of Boston, and C. S. Pennell, of 
Springfield. 

The subject was then laid on the table. 

The following resolution was offered by Mr. Allen. 



JOURNAL OF PROCEEDIJiGS. 31 

Resolved, That the thanks of the Association be presented 
to Eev. J. P. Cowles for his interesting and able lecture, 
and that a copy of it be requested for publication and gratu- 
itous distribution. 

The Association adjourned to 7 o'clock. 

Evening Session. 

The meeting was called to order by Mr. Bates. 

Mr. Allen's resolution respecting the lecture of Rev. 
Mr. Cowles was taken from the table, and passed, and 
Messrs. Allen, I. F. Shepard, and Carlton were ap- 
pointed a Committee to carry it into effect. 

Mr. Greene, chairman of the Committee on the 
" Teachers' Journal," reported tlie following resolves, 
which were unanimously adopted. 

Resolved^ That the interests of the profession, and the 
cause of education, require the establishment of a Teachers' 
Journal. 

Resolved, That a Committee of five be appointed by the 
Association, with discretionary power to establish such a 
Journal, provided it can be done without subjecting the Asso- 
ciation to pecuniary responsibility, and that this committee 
act as an editorial corps in conducting it. 

On motion of Mr. Swan, the whole subject was 
recommitted with discretionary powers. 

A lecture was then delivered by Mr. Joseph Hale, 
of the Johnson School, Boston. Subject, " Thorough 
Instruction." After remarks on the subject of the 
lecture by Mr. Bowers, of Springfield, 

On motion of Mr. Swan, it was voted that the thanks 
of the Association be presented to Mr. Hale for his 



32 JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS. 

eloquent address, and that a copy of the same be 
requested for publication. Messrs. Greene, of Boston, 
Smith, of Worcester, and Putnam, of Salem, were 
appointed a Committee to carry the vote into effect. 

The Recording Secretary was authorized to procure 
two hundred copies of the Boston Weekly Bee, con- 
taining a report of the proceedings of the meeting, and 
to furnish with a copy each member of the Association. 

Mr. Parish, of Springfield, offered the following 
resolutions, which, after remarks thereon by Messrs. 
Smith, of Worcester, Greenleaf, of Bradford, Wells, of 
Andover, Swan and Tower, of Boston, Northend, of 
Salem, Cowles, of Ipswich, and Thayer, of Boston, 
were unanimously adopted. 

Whereas, An impression exists in certain portions of the 
community, that the Massachusetts Teachers' Association con- 
templated in its origin the purpose of neutralizing or oppos- 
ing the influence of the Board of Education, and still enter- 
tains hostile views towards that body, therefore, 

Besolved, That if an expression or sentiment tending to 
produce such an impression has been uttered in any of our 
deliberations, we entirely disclaim it as having been expressed 
with any such hostile motive. 

Resolved, That it is our great object to advance the cause 
of education in all its bearings on society, — and that we 
rejoice in every effort on the part of other associations and 
individuals in cooperating in the same great work. 

On motion of Mr. Northend, it was voted, That the 
Board of Directors be requested to appoint the next 
annual meeting of the Association to be held at Spring- 
field, provided suitable arrangements can be made for 
the accommodation of the members. 



JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS. 33 

The thanks of the Association were presented to the 
several railroad companies for the extra facilities "which 
they had afforded the members. 

On motion of Mr. Thayer, the thanks of the Asso- 
ciation were presented to the lecturers, and the former 
votes on the subject were so amended, that Messrs. 
Greene, Smith, and Putnam, were authorized to pro- 
cure the printing of all the lectures. 

Thanks were presented to those editors of newspapers 
who had voluntarily noticed the meeting, and to the 
School Committee of Worcester for their courtesy in 
providing a suitable Hall. 

Prayer was then offered by Rev. Alonzo Hill, of 
Worcester, and after singing Old Hundred, the Asso- 
ciation adjourned. 

(Signed) 

Samuel Swan, Secretary, 



LECTURES OF THE SECOND YEAE. 



LECTURE I. 

THE CLAIMS OF TEACHING TO THE RANK 
OF A DISTINCT PROFESSION. 

BY ELBBIDGE SMITH. 

Gentlemen of the Mass. State Teachers' Association: 

It was a principle in the Roman military system al- 
ways to commence an action with the skirmishing of 
the light troops. It is in consequence of the adoption 
of a similar tactic by the Executive Committee of this 
body, that it becomes my duty to address you at the 
opening of our present session. I know not that I can 
better perform my part as an humble member of the 
V elites of this Association, than, during the few moments 
it will be my duty to claim your attention, by setting 
forth, as best I may, the claims of our occupation to the 
rank of a distinct and independent profession. It will 
not be deemed arrogance on my part, to claim for this 
subject a peculiar fitness to the circumstances under 
which we are assembled. The organization of this As- 
sociation was in itself a most emphatic assertion of the 
sentiments to which it will be my aim, this evening, to 
give expression. 



38 MR. smith's lectuee. 

We met in convention last year, ostensibly in obe- 
dience to a call from the " Essex County Teachers' As- 
sociation," but really in obedience to a call from our 
own bosoms, a fundamental law of human nature which 
impels men of similar pursuits to unite their sympathies 
and energies in the prosecution of their common work. 

It was a matter of regret, gentlemen, that we came so 
late to the work. We should have led the vanguard in 
the great enterprise of connecting, by some strong bond 
of union, those throughout our land, who, in their silent 
and unobtrusive labors, are shaping the destinies of the 
rising generation. It was, I might almost say, the prerog- 
ative of this ancient Commonwealth, within whose limits 
common schools first gained a foothold, to be foremost in 
every enterprise pertaining to their elevation and im- 
provement. If we are true to ourselves, the step we 
have taken is destined to work an era in the history of 
public school instruction in Massachusetts ; and I may 
also add, in her civil and religious history. No greater 
event can possibly transpire in the history of any State, 
than when the instructors of her youth unite in an earn- 
est and determined effort rightly to appreciate and 
worthily to discharge the high functions of their office. 
And this is the purpose, if I understand the object of 
our meeting, for which we are now assembled. Let us 
then endeavor to obtain clear ideas of the relation we 
sustain, of the claims which we have upon society, and 
of those which society has upon us. 

The great concerns of humanity, the preservation of 
life and health, the protection of individual rights, and 
the still higher interests of the soul, have^ from the ear- 



TUB CLAIMS OF TEACHING. 89 

liest dawn of civilization, been entrusted to those who 
have made these things the subjects of their exclusive 
study and attention. The writings of the father of 
medicine have come down to us in the simple garb of the 
later Ionic dialect, and the blind old bard of Scio has 
thought the wrongs of an injured priest worthy of a 
place in the opening of his immortal poem. The names 
of Solon, Lycurgus, and Draco, are foundation stones 
in the great structure of Grecian art, genius and elo- 
quence. In sacred history we go back to still earlier 
periods, and the names of Moses and Aaron, the Hebrew 
lawgiver and priest, are associated with the awful scenes 
of Horeb and Sinai. The three learned professions 
seem thus to have sprung into being in the earliest in- 
fancy of the race. The progress of society and the 
consequent development of civil and natural laws have 
extended the boundaries of professional study, until 
each contains within itself departments almost as dis- 
tinctly marked as were originally the professions them- 
selves. The ambitious attempts of Grecian philosophy 
to account for the origin of all things, are no longer 
considered indications of true wisdom. Knowledge is 
becoming more microscopic in its character. While 
the field of observation has been 'narrowed, it has been 
more carefully explored, and the value of knowledge 
has come to be estimated in the inverse ratio of the 
number of subjects to which it extends. The opera- 
tion of this principle which political economists call di- 
vision of labor, has long since given rise to the occupsr 
tion in which we are engaged. 
It is interesting to observe how closely in Christian 



40 MR. smith's lecture. 

countries the work of the teacher has been allied to 
that of the clergyman. Teaching has been, in fact, 
one branch of the clerical profession ; and, in some in- 
stances, no little difficulty has been experienced in the 
attempt to sever what has come to be considered a natu- 
ral and almost necessary connection between them. 
This is especially true of our colleges and professional 
schools. The subordinate stations in our common and 
high schools, as they are termed, have been filled by 
those who have found them convenient stages in a 
course of professional study, or by those who have dis- 
covered what nature might have taught them, that they 
were not designed for the bar or the pulpit. 

No calling in the country has been followed more as 
a means and less as an end, than that of teaching. In 
no class in the community will be found a greater num- 
ber of hirelings, men who prize their work not as a 
means of influencing and controlling mind, but simply 
as ministering to the supply of the sensual wants. The 
reputation of being a profound jurist, or a successful 
advocate, an elegant preacher, or an able divine, a skil- 
ful surgeon or therapeutist, is in itself sufficient to enlist 
the energies of the ablest mind. The position in socie- 
ty secured by preeminent professional, far outweighs 
in every noble mind the paltry considerations of mere 
pecuniary gain. But motives of this character, in the 
present condition of things, cannot have a controlling 
influence upon the teacher's mind. It was not the 
hope of pecuniary profit that gave to the world Black- 
stone's Commentaries, nor Butler's Analogy, nor Ed- 
wards's Treatise on the Will. It was entire devotion 



THE CLAIMS OF TEACHING}. 41 

to a great and arduous work, the love of professional 
labor, and the sure and just reward consequent upon 
that labor, reckoned not in the worthless coin of dollars 
and cents, but in the elevation, improvement, and grate- 
ful remembrance of their species. 

The occupation of teaching has been regarded as 
furnishing little scope for the higher faculties of the 
mind — as tending rather to circumscribe, than to 
strengthen and expand its powers. This opinion has, 
perhaps, been justified by the character of the majority 
of those who have been employed in the work. Nor is 
it strange that such should have been their character, 
considering the estimate in which their work has been 
held by their employers. 

Teaching has not generally been considered wor- 
thy the attention of noble and gifted minds, and conse- 
quently they have not been summoned to engage in it. 
Not many years since, when a man of preeminent talents 
was appointed to the mastership of a public school, it 
was said by some. He is going to cut blocks with a razor; 
by others. What a pity that a man fit to be a statesman 
should be employed in teaching school-boys ; by others. 
He has gone to galvanize a dead carcass. 

A constant ratio always has existed and always will 
exist between the estimation in which teaching is held, 
and the character which teachers maintain. Talent 
will always obey the mandate of public opinion, and if 
called by this high authority, will as readily put forth its 
powers in the school-room, as at the bar, or in the 
pulpit. 

But, as I have already said, the impression prevails 
3* 



42 MR. smith's lecture. 

that this field of action is too confined ; that there is 
not enough here to satisfy the higher aspirations of the 
soul. Let us pause to inquire if this be correct. The 
period of pupilage comprises the first fifteen or twenty 
years of human existence, a fourth or a fifth of the 
threescore years and ten allotted to our earthly sojourn. 
But the importance of this period is not to be estimated 
by its duration. It is almost superfluous to remark 
that it is far more decisive of human destiny than the 
entire complement of life. This period has most ex- 
pressively been termed the seed-time of life. And if 
the inspired declaration be true, " that whatsoever a man 
soweth that shall he also reap," what scrupulous atten- 
tion should be given to the preparation of the soil, and 
the sowing of the seed. This teeming period of life is 
committed to the teacher's care. He can and will, 
whether intending it or not, draw those strong and deep 
lines of mental and moral character, which time nor 
eternity can ever eSace. Jurists, divines, and physi- 
cians will strive in vain to reconstruct the fabric which 
he has reared. They may modify and amplify, but 
they can never change the intrinsic character of the 
structure. Other foundation can no man lay than that 
which he lays. 

"Who has ever gazed upon the impressions of animal 
and vegetable life which are found in various species of 
fossil, carrying the mind back through the desolations of 
countless revolutions, to the secret of ages before man 
was, and not reflected, with sublime admiration, upon 
their vast antiquity ? In these we may examine the 
vegetable and animal physiology of periods buried in 



THE CLAIMS OF TEACHING. 48 

the depths of a past eternity, and bring to light the 
minutest facts in their existence. The faUing of a peb- 
ble, the folding of a leaf, the contraction of a muscle, 
the fracture of a bone, with all the nicer lineaments of a 
most delicate and wondrous mechanism, have survived 
the convulsions and throes of the terraqueous globe. 
But these traces of influence recorded on what has been 
for ages the unconscious matter of our globe, are fleet- 
ing and transient as the dew of morning compared with 
the impressions made upon an immortal spirit. 

" These shall resist the empire of decay, 
When time is o'er, and worlds have passed away ; 
Cold in the dust the perished heart may lie, * 
But that which warmed it once, can never die." 

Had we the powers of vision with which to penetrate 
the mysterious structure of the mind, 

" Where thought, of notice ever shy, behind 
Thought disappearing, stUl retires ; and stiU, 
Thought meeting thought, and thought awakening thought, 
And mingling stiU with thought in endless maze," 

or of the heart, where " passion weaves its web of thou- 
sand threads ingrain, and hue all different," and could 
we perceive the close connections and nice dependen- 
cies, its great susceptibility and tenacity of impression, 
so that a single thought may change its character and 
action throughout the whole extent of its duration, 
might we not shrink from the responsibility of directing 
the motions of a mechanism so ethereal, and which, if 
misdirected, will prey upon itself with an all-consuming 



44 MR. smith's lecture. . 

and never-ceasing energy ? And then suppose we re- 
ceived this spiritual framework in the freshness and 
purity of its early youth, that we may strengthen and 
chasten, adorn and expand, invigorate and consecrate 
its powers. This, gentlemen, is our work. To this, if 
we have been true to our trust, have we been exclusive- 
ly devoted the past year. In the performance of this 
duty is there a field sufficiently ample for the mind ? 
a work sufficiently great to task its noblest powers ? Do 
the first twenty years of existence, controlling as they 
do the whole of subsequent life, and that life deter- 
mining the character of the life to come, constitute a 
period to jyhich genius and talent may worthily devote 
their energies ? In short, is the training of minds, 
which, 

" When earth 's no more, "will still survive above, 
And through the radiant files of angels move, 
Or as before the throne of God they stand. 
See new ■worlds rolling from his spacious hand 
Where their adventures may perhaps be taught, 
As we now tell how Mcheal sung or fought," 

worthy to take rank in the great interests of the race 
as one grand department of human action, — as a distinct 
profession ? 

When mind shall have assumed the controlling rank 
assigned to it by its Creator, when passion shall bow 
to the dictates of enlightened reason, and virtue assert 
its supremacy over vice, it will be found that the pro- 
fession of teaching will rank only second in the scale of 
human pursuits. 



THE CLAIMS OF TEACHIUG. 45 

" The pulpit in the sober use 
Of its legitimate, peculiar powers, 
Must stand acknowledged, while the world shall stand, 
The most important and effectual guard, 
Support and ornament of Virtue's cause. 
There stands the messenger of truth ; there stands 
The legate of the skies ! His theme divine. 
His office sacred, his credentials clear." 

To him we yield the precedence, and to no other. 
We claim the highest earthly dignity for that occupa- 
tion -which has been, and still is, too generally consid- 
ered the appropriate sphere fordrones and dunces. I 
have not spoken of the relation which our labors sustain 
to the duties of the present life. But were we to argue 
this question on the comparatively low grounds of polit- 
ical economy, I am unable to perceive that the rank 
of our employment would be at all degraded. What 
are the great ends to be attained by a political organ- 
ization ? Or in language almost too familiar to be quoted, 

" What constitutes a state ? 
Not high raised battlement and labored mound. 

Thick wall or gate. 
Not cities proud, with spires and turrets crowned, 

Not bays and broad a,rmed ports. 
Where, laughing at the storm, proud navies ride ; 

Not starred and spangled courts, 
Where low-browed baseness wafts perfumes to pride. 

No ! Men ! high-minded men ! 

Men who their duties know. 
But know their rights : and, knowing, dare maintain, 

Prevent the long-aimed blow, 
And crush the tyrant, while they rend the chain. 



46 MR. smith's lecture. 

These constitute a state ! 
And sovereign law, that states collected "will 

O'er thrones and globes elate, 
Sits empress, crowning good, repressing ill." 

And where in society can tlie man be found who 
does a tithe of the labor in rearing these men — high 
minded men — which the teacher performs? Bear 
with me in a brief appeal to well known facts. Alex- 
ander was but the Stagirite of the political world ; he 
did as a sovereign what his master had done as a phil- 
osopher. Charles XII, if we might for once give cre- 
dence to the doctrine of Pythagoras, was but another 
and more vulnerable incarnation of the soul of Achilles 
in its career of endless transmigration. But there are 
nobler examples than " Macedonia's madmen, or the 
Swede." The Duke of Burgundy was the pupil and 
transcript of the great Fenelon. The present king of 
the French, the most accomplished sovereign in Europe, 
owes his very existence to a course of early education 
which contemplated both aspects of life, the nights of 
trial and adversity as inseparably connected with the 
days of triumph and prosperity. Time was, when states 
even were modelled in strict accordance with the doc- 
trines I maintain. When Leonidas found his position 
at Thermopylse untenable, he dismissed his allies, re- 
taining only his three hundred Spartans, with the sim- 
ple remark that the laws of Sparta did not allow them 
to fly from an enemy. These men were the offspring 
of the stern system of Lycurgus. They had passed 
through a furnace of discipline, heated to sevenfold in- 
tensity. They had acquired bodily strength and powers 



THE CLAIMS OF TEACHINa. 4T 

in the gymnasium, and ferocity of spirit in the atrocious 
deeds of the krupteia. The Goths held it to be a per- 
petual shame for one of their swordsmen to wink in re- 
ceiving a wound. These men were educated in a most 
barbarous system, it is true, but in despotic obedience 
to its laws. If these results have been produced in 
stern defiance of all the kindlier elements of our na- 
ture, what may we not look for, when its powers 
shall be harmoniously in obedience to the laws which 
the Creator has given it ? If such miracles in educa- 
tion have been achieved in a state controlled by the 
dogmas of a blind mythology, what may we not expect 
in one enlightened by the clear effulgence of the Chris- 
tian faith ? Xenophon, in the first book of his Cyropse- 
dia, has given a beautiful description of the Persian 
policy, in respect to the education of youth. In this 
system, he tells us, the laws seem to begin with a provi- 
dent care of the com,mon good — not where those of most 
other governments begin — for most other governments, 
giving to all a liberty of educating their children as 
they please, and to the advanced in age a liberty of Hv- 
ing as they please, do then enjoin their people not to 
steal, not to plunder, not to enter a house by violence, 
not to strike unjustly, not to be adulterous, not to dis- 
obey magistrates, and other things in like manner ; and 
if any transgress, they impose punishments on them. 
But the Persian laws, taking things higher, are careful 
from the beginning to provide that their citizens shall 
not be such as to be capable of meddling with any action 
that is base and vile. He also adds, that the teachers 
of those who in mature life excel in courage and skill. 



48 MR. smith's lecture. 

receive particular honor. The result of this course of 
education he exhibits in the character of Cyrus and his 
conquering legions. Plato, in the third book of his re- 
pubhc, and in the fifth and seventh of his treatise on 
laws, has given the most explicit directions respecting 
the education of youth, as a most important element in 
his ideal commonwealth. Lord Bacon, in his "Advance- 
ment of Learning," says, " that as the monging or cher- 
ishing of seeds or young plants is that that is most im- 
portant to their thriving, so the culture and manurance 
of mind in youth hath such a forcible, though unseen 
operation, as hardly any length of time or contention 
of labor can counteract it afterwards. And it is not 
amiss, also, to observe how small and mean faculties 
gather by education, yet when they fall into great men 
or great matters, do work great and important effects." 
I will add but one other authority on this subject, little 
regarded at the present day, but I trust not entirely 
obsolete here. " Train up a child in the way he should 
go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." If 
these views of education be correct — if it be worthy 
the rank assigned it by these lights of the world — 
what shall be said of the educator ? Education, as a 
mere abstraction, can avail nothing. The most elabo- 
rate discussion of its principles, and the closest elucida- 
tion of its truths, might exist, and do exist, in communi- 
ties where civilization, even, has not yet had its perfect 
work among the masses of the people. It becomes op- 
erative and powerful, only when brought home to our 
firesides and to our hearts. This is the teacher's work. 
We speak with reverence of the ministers of our holy 



THE CLAIMS OF TEACHING. 49 

religion, and it is right. But they are men of like pas- 
sions with ourselves ; they derive their dignity and 
"worth from their high commission. We claim a similar 
dignity and vy'orth for those who minister at the altars 
of our household gods — who conduct the education of 
our youth. 

This point might be argued at much greater length, 
but it would be superfluous labor. Perhaps I should 
even apologize for presuming to discuss a subject which 
must have presented itself with so much greater force 
to the mind of every gentleman who hears me. To 
others, it may, and doubtless will, seem but the 
alazoneia of Aristotle — an excessive admiration, and 
vain-glorious estimation, of our own particular calling. 

But having examined the claims of the occupation 
of teaching, let us glance at its actual condition. Let 
us see whether society has estimated and allowed these 
claims. So far is this from being the case, that I as- 
sert, fearlessly, that this employment is the most de- 
pendent of any that can be found in the Commonwealth. 
The system of supervision under which our public 
schools at present exist, is such as prevents, and, from 
the nature of the case — from the nature and constitu- 
tion of things — always must prevent, their attaining 
that degree of influence and power which is essential 
to their highest usefulness. Let me not be misunder- 
stood. I speak merely of the system by which a per- 
manent teacher is subjected entirely to the direction of 
a board of control ; by which his individuality is merged 
in rules and regulations, injunctions and prohibitions, 
imposed on him by those who are his legally constituted 



50 MR. smith's lecture. 

guardians ; by whicli, instead of the glorious and re- 
sponsible being whicli his employment should render him, 
he is degraded to the rank of a subaltern — a mere ac- 
cessory. I am far from asserting that this is the con- 
dition of teachers throughout this Commonwealth. 
Many, I doubt not, and some, I hioiv^ haye the good for- 
tune to act under the direction of those who understand 
and admit something of the claims which the teacher 
has to independence in his profession ; who respect his 
views and feehngs, and cooperate with, rather than 
control him. And that I may not be supposed to have 
any personal grievances of which to complain, permit 
me to say that I consider myself among the most favored 
of the latter class. I am aware that what I have said 
may excite, in some minds, a degree of surprise. But 
let us see if there be not some plausibility in the posi- 
tion I have taken. And first, let me inquire why our 
profession is selected as the only one which requires a 
supervision so constant and despotic. Every public 
school teacher in this State is, I presume, in a greater 
or less degree responsible, not only to the community 
for whose good he labors, but to members of the three 
learned professions ; for these are very generally select- 
ed to discharge the duties of School Committees. Why 
should not a portion of the medical and clerical profes- 
sion be selected to counsel, and if need be, direct the 
gentlemen of the bar ? It will not be denied that there 
is much of needless litigation in society, and that the 
worse is often made to appear the better reason ; and 
if an arrangement of this kind were adopted, it might 
secure a more perfect dispensation of justice. Why 



THE CLAIMS OF TEACHING. 51 

should not clergymen and lawyers become a board of 
health, to regulate the practice of medicine ? It will 
not be denied that society is scandalously imposed upon 
by quacks, and that members of the faculty often kill 
when they ought to cure. Why should not lawyers 
and physicians take charge of the reverend clergy ? — 
for it must be confessed, the words of the apostle have 
been found sadly true, " we have this treasure in earth- 
en vessels." And why not extend this system of super- 
vision through all the mechanic arts ? Why should 
not our carpenters and masons look after our shoemakers 
and blacksmiths ? and they, in turn, inspect the work- 
manship of our dwellings ? Let our dry-goods dealers 
look after our grocers. Let every board of bank direc- 
tors be constituted a committee to inspect our insurance 
offices; and, that the system may be complete, let 
legally constituted committees, from our cities and 
large towns, have charge of our farms and dairies. A 
system of espionage like this, needs only to be mention- 
ed that it may be despised. But wherein, let me in- 
quire, does it differ from that which has already been 
established, in regard to one of the great interests of 
society ? It may be maintained that the circumstances 
in which the teacher is placed are peculiar and such as 
render him a fit object of scrutinizing watchfulness, 
from which members of other professions should be ex- 
empt. It would not, I think, be difficult to show that 
no such pecuharity in the occupation of teaching exists. 
It ought to stand upon the same basis as any other call- 
ing or profession in life ; it must, it will, before it shall 
accomplish that moral and mental transformation in 



62 MR. smith's lecture. 

society, which it is destined to achieve. But let us 
notice some of the evils to which the present system of 
school supervision gives rise. 

In the first place it tends to divert from the profes- 
sion the highest order of talent. A truly vigorous and 
decisive character desires, first of all, the liberty of 
developing his own pecuHar views. He will desire, in 
whatever profession he may labor, to leave upon it the 
impression of his own mind. Such a man cannot brook 
restraint. To him,^is own views and plans of action 
possess an interest which they present to no other ; he 
justly claims from society the patronage of a fair oppor- 
tunity ; he will willingly incur the responsibility of any 
course of action he may wish to pursue, and if suc- 
cessful, may justly claim the reputation he deserves. 
Nothing is more desirable to such a mind, than to accom- 
plish something which shall be regarded as peculiarly 
his own. But in our public schools, this liberty of ac- 
tion is not enjoyed. The great lines of conduct are 
marked out for him ; to these he must conform, or a rup- 
ture takes place between him and the Committee, and 
he is driven from his profession in disgrace. These 
obstacles, a sagacious mind will perceive, and be care- 
ful to avoid. I might fortify myself here, by the opinions 
of eminent professional men in this State, but I choose 
rather to go abroad, and present the example and au- 
thority of one from our own profession, which will be 
received as authority, wherever exalted merit and real 
worth are appreciated. It is now more than three years 
since the higher pubhcations of the periodical press, 
both in this country and in Europe, have been vieing 



THE CLAIMS OF TEACHING. 53 

with each other in extolling the character of one whose 
sun went down in the high noon of his glorj, leaving a 
nation — I had almost said a world — to mourn his loss. 
I scarcely need say that I refer to Dr. Arnold, late 
head-master of Rugby School. When he took charge 
of the school at Rugby, he maintained that, in the ac- 
tual working of the school, he must be completely 
independent, and that their remedy, if they were dis- 
satisfied, was not interference, but dismissal. On this 
condition he took the post, and any attempt to control 
either his administration of the school, or his own private 
occupations, he felt bound to resist, as a duty, he said 
on one occasion, not only to himself, but to the master 
of every foundation school in England. At a subse- 
quent period, in a letter to the under Secretary of 
State, in relation to a candidate for an office as teacher, 
in the gift of the government, he says : " I am anxious 
to understand clearly, whether he is to be in any degree 
under the control of any local board, whether lay or 
clerical ; because if he were, I could not conscientious- 
ly recommend him to take an office which I am sure he 
would shortly find himself obliged to abandon. Uniform 
experience shows, I think, so clearly the mischief of 
subjecting schools to the ignorance and party feelings 
of persons wholly unacquainted with the theory and 
practice of education, that I feel it absolutely necessary 
to understand fully the intentions of the government on 
this question." These are not the opinions of a weak or 
inexperienced man, but of one who just before his death 
was thought worthy of a professor's chair in the Univer- 
sity of Oxford. How sad the reflection, that, if Arnold 



54 MR. smith's lecture. 

himself, with his noble and lofty spirit, "were to seek 
employment in our public schools, he would be rejected. 
And how many Arnolds are there, who for the reasons 
above specified, have devoted their services to other 
pursuits, instead of training, " by every rule of whole- 
some discipline, to glorious war the hosts " of youth 
among us? And how many, engaged in the work, 
are fretting in their harness, and waiting only for an op- 
portunity to abandon the profession forever ? Indeed, 
Arnold himself was on the verge of leaving his post at 
Rugby, on the occasion of an unreasonable interference 
on the part of those who had charge of the general 
interests of the school. Who can read, in the life of 
Arnold, the account of this conflict of his liberal, gene- 
rous, and noble spirit, with the contemptible bigotry and 
sectarianism that beset him, without kindling in the 
cause of the hero, and shouting at his triumph ? 

Again, this system presents a formidable barrier to 
the attainment of high professional eminence — which 
should be one of the controlling motives of the teacher's 
mind. It is with great difficulty that the teacher can 
exert a direct influence upon society, in his professional 
character. He is obliged to act through the Committee. 
If in the discharge of his duties, he has discovered hap- 
pier methods of imparting instruction ; if he has suc- 
ceeded in arousing to higher action the energies of the 
young, he is by no means certain of receiving the credit 
due to his efibrts. That which is due to superior skill 
ia the instructor, may be, and very often is, ascribed 
to incidental circumstances and extraneous influences. 
I by no means assert that this would be intentionally 



TEE CLAIMS OF TEACHING. 55 

done. But it is by no means easy for one who has not 
been actually engaged in the work, to determine the 
amount of labor that is necessary to bring about results 
apparently the most trivial. Gentlemen, have you ever 
seen those within your school-rooms who were eloquent 
in their expressions of praise, at the ease with which 
all your operations are performed, and who expressed 
regret that it was not their happy lot to teach ? have 
you ever noticed the difference between the views which 
a teacher would take of your schools, and those of one 
who has had no experience in the employment ? Which 
have been the most discriminating, and the most just ? 
I am not aware that it is customary in any portion of this 
State, for teachers to make reports of the progress and 
condition of their schools to the Committees in which 
they labor. These are always received from a Com- 
mittee, and from those the teacher has no appeal. Sup- 
pose we wish to obtain information respecting the con- 
dition of the schools, in any of our cities and large 
towns. What are the means of information that come 
most readily to hand ? The reports of the Committees 
of these towns. But, do you, gentlemen of the profes- 
sion, always find these reports satisfactory ? do you 
obtain from them the information you desire ? are they 
of a professional character ? do they appear to come 
from teachers, or from those who have only seen others 
teach ? It is certainly very desirable that Committees 
should make reports of what passes under their notice 
in the examination of schools. It is still more desirable 
that teachers themselves should report on those matters 
which escape the notice of others, and which would be 



56 MR. smith's lecture. 

alike interesting to other members of the profession and 
to the community at large. A course like this would 
furnish a noble field for the display of professional talent, 
and would present the strongest incentives to the mind 
of the teacher, to make discoveries and improvements 
which should be known beyond the walls of his school- 
room. This course would contemplate the teacher as 
an individual man and as a responsible agent. The 
other regards him as an overseer, intended to carry out 
the views of the Committee. 

In speaking of the clergy of any of our cities, individ- 
uals eminent in the profession at once arise before the 
mind. The same may be said of the bar, and of the 
medical profession. But is it true to the same extent, 
of the educating profession ? Are they not rather con- 
cealed in the machinery of the system which they are 
required to work. I know there are men connected 
with our public schools somewhat extensively known as 
teachers. I think, however, that authorship has done 
quite as much for them as teaching. Most worthy men, 
no doubt, those are — men, who if left to the free and 
full development of their educational views in the con- 
duct of their schools, might prove the greatest blessings 
to their age ; but under the existing system, his indivi- 
duality is merged in a kind of social menstruum, and 
his hard-earned reputation complacently borne ofi" by 
those, perhaps, who never devoted an hour to teaching 
in their hves. In a subject so vast as that of educar 
tion, there is, of course, a most inviting field for im- 
provement and discovery, — here is range for the mas- 
ter spirits of the race. Why then should it not be 



THE CLAIMS OF TEACHDrG. 57 

thrown open to free investigation, like any subject 
pertaining to the great interests of the race ? Let 
teachers be situated so that thev can mutually incite 
each other to higher attainments, and greater success, 
— and when new discoveries crown their labors, let them 
have the satisfaction of knowing that they are acknowl- 
edged and honored as such. The Royal Society is 
devoted to the promotion of science, but I am not aware 
that it has ever laid down any explicit rules to guide its 
members in the path of discovery. According to our 
system of school-government, it ought to pass definite 
laws for the observance of its members in the several 
departments of science, and if any should presume to 
overlook the bounds of their conventional universe, and 
call up a new world from the depths of space, a resolu- 
tion should be passed that no such world existed ; but 
if forced to acknowledge it, it should, at a regular meet- 
ing of the society, be formally introduced to the notice 
of mankind. 

It seems to me perfectly clear that the teacher should 
be left to the selection of his own means in imparting 
instruction. But this is not allowed — new books may 
be introduced, which he cannot approve, and the state- 
ments of which he may find himself obliged to contra- 
dict or modify at almost every step. If the teacher be 
not qualified to select his text-books, he surely is not 
qualified to use them. Nay, more ; if he be not better 
qualified than any one else to perform this service, he 
must have been entirely false to his trust, and if so, 
should be removed. This practice of having text-books 
selected by committees, has the merit of peculiar 

4 



58 MR. smith's lecture. 

absurdity. It would be interesting to see a Committee 
from the legal and clerical professions, enter a physi- 
cian's office, and inform him that thej had brought him 
an entirely new set of authorities, which they expected 
he would implicitly follow in his subsequent practice. 
He would probably reply, " Gentlemen, I appeal from 
your jurisdiction ; I refer to you in matters of law and 
divinity, but claim to understand medical science better 
than you. If I do not understand that which I have 
made my life's study, you surely caanot, who have been 
entirely absorbed in other pursuits." The same re- 
marks would apply to the other professions. But it 
will be said the opinions of teachers differ, and where 
several schools exist, some course must be adopted to 
secure uniformity. This is true ; and let those be ap- 
pointed to make the selection, who are the best qualified 
to judge of their merits. And they, I maintain, are 
the teachers themselves. Let them decide by vote, for 
this is the method adopted by Committees, and it would 
only be transferring the decision from those who do 
not to those who do understand the subject upon which 
they pass judgment. In saying this, I mean no dis- 
respect to Committees. They ought not to be expected 
to give that time and attention to the study of text- 
books, which will enable them to form a correct opinion 
respecting their merits. They are engaged, heart and 
soul, in other professions. 

But it is the teacher's province, and the teacher's 
duty, to inform himself respecting the character of books 
— and it is the right of the community to avail them- 
selves of his knowledge. If any thing can be said to be 



THE CLAIMS OF TEACHING, 59 

an axiom in matters of school management, I tliink it is 
this. In some of our cities and large towns, still more 
stringent regulations are adopted. The manner in 
which every hour in the day shall be spent is distinctly 
marked out, and I have been told by some teachers that 
when they are absent from duty for the space of half 
an hour, a deduction is made from their salaries. How 
a man can live under such a system without some sense 
of self degradation, is more than I can understand. If 
a dozen or fifteen teachers can be found, who shall ex- 
perience no inconvenience under the operation of such 
regulations, it seems to me it ought to be regarded as 
prima facie evidence of their incompetence to teach. 
Minds that could thus tamely follow in a prescribed 
course, must be entirely destitute of that self-inspiring 
confidence and determined energy which should consti- 
tute the great features in a teacher's character. 

And it is still more surprising that men of sense and 
ability should ever enforce such regulations. How can 
they endure the customs of society, — as varied as the in- 
dividuals that compose it ? How can^they bear the ap- 
parent disorder and endless variety in the heavens 
above, and in the earth around ? In conformity to their 
views every motion in nature should be in straight lines 
or exact circles. But the infinite diversity in the natural, 
is only a transcript of what exists in the spiritual world. 
It is true there is a high degree of pleasure in witness- 
ing the exact movements of a large mass of machinery, 
but it is nobler far to contemplate the glorious con- 
fusion of the material and intellectual worlds, working 
out in the mysterious economy of Providence, a sublimer 



60 MR. smith's lecture. 

harmony than ever sprung from the most gorgeous cre- 
ations of the human fancy. Where shall we learn to 
work upon great Nature's plan, and bow to the majes- 
tic simplicity of law ? How long is society destined to 
pay the heavy penalties of infringing upon the Creator's 
patent ? 

Eut I gladly turn from this view of my subject. By 
some it will be deemed a grand or rather a contempti- 
ble impertinence, that I should presume here to impeach 
a poHcy which has been considered the bulwark, rather 
than the bane, of our public schools. I might yet 
heighten the picture, and spare many a startling fact 
from real life ; but it would be deemed invidious. I 
have intended to speak only of the system. No one 
can think more highly of the men who perform the 
duties of School Committees, than myself. They are 
selected from the ablest and best men which society 
affords. But the ablest men often make great mistakes 
when acting out of their appropriate spheres. One 
thing, it seems to me, is clear : if society employs a 
class of men for a particular service, that service they 
ought to perform. 

Of course there should be committees to examine 
schools, and employ teachers, but by the principles of 
common sense — by the principles which regulate the 
practice of all other professions and occupations, the 
teacher should be left to the selection of his own means 
and appliances, and then held responsible for results. 
If he succeed, let him have his just reputation, as a 
master of his profession. If he fail, let him give place 
to some worthier man. It may be said that this would 



THE CLAIMS OF TEACHING. 61 

be giving great power to the teacher. This is true ; 
but it is just such as is given to the clergyman, the 
physician, and the lawyer. What a solemn responsibil- 
ity is committed to the hands of the physician, when 
you entrust to him a life as dear to you as your own ; or 
to the lawyer, when you entrust entirely to his manage- 
ment, a suit in which your whole property is involved ; 
or to the clergyman, when clothed with conquering 
power, the king of terrors claims his own dread hour. 
But we do this, constantly relying, with entire confi- 
dence, upon the moral honesty and professional skill of 
those whom we employ. 

But can there not be honest and able men engaged in 
teaching ? men who understand their business as well as 
other professional men ? No man accomplishes great 
good without incurring great responsibility. And it is 
the sense of responsibility properly felt, that calls into 
exercise our most effective powers. Responsibility, 
with moral agents, is one of the great motive powers. 
And that it may operate to advantage, it should be dis- 
tinctly understood where it rests. There is no surer 
method of making a man a scoundrel, than by always 
treating him as such ; and there is no surer method of 
rendering a teacher unfaithful, than a system of policy 
which contemplates him as unworthy of trust. 

But, gentlemen, we have more pleasing duties to 
perform, than to complain that our labors are under- 
valued, and our office not appreciated. We have some- 
thing more important to attend to, than to inquire what 
men think of us. In our hours of calm reflection, when 



62 MR. smith's LECTtJEE. 

the soul retires into the sanctuary of its own medita- 
tions ; when we take a comprehensive view of the field 
of our duties, and consider the relation which our labors 
sustain to human destiny, we find that our work is not 
merely undervalued by our contemporaries, but by our- 
selves. Let us rise, then, to a proper sense of our high 
vocation, and this we can never do, until great thoughts 
of eternity come over us. If there be any reality in a 
future state, and if the revelation we possess mean any 
thing, there can be no doubt that from these sources 
are to be drawn the great controlling motives of our 
lives. No considerations of merely temporal advantage 
can be of sujfficient moment to balance and control the 
operations of a spirit that must live forever. I say this, 
not merely for the purpose of closing with some reli- 
gious cant, but as something which must lie at the 
very foundation of our views of education, and of our 
labors as educators. It was on this basis that the Puritan 
character was built — the strongest character which 
the world has yet seen. They have labored, and we 
have entered into their labors. If our minds can take 
fire in view of the incentives addressed to them, in view 
of the Archimedean position which we occupy — and 
they can if adequate to their work — we can well afford 
to be regardless of our reputation. If we give ourselves 
wholly to our work, we may rest assured that our fame 
will take care of itself. But there will be hours and 
days of despondency. There will be times when we 
shall be misrepresented abroad, and that too when we 
most deserve commendation. I have often heard from 



THE CLAIMS OF TEA0HI2s^G. 63 

teachers, sentiments like those wMch Coleridge lias 
put into the mouth of a complaining spirit : 

How seldom, Friend ! a good great man inherits 
Honor or wealth, with all his worth and pains ! 
It sounds like stories from the land of spirits, 
If any man obtain that which he merits, 
Or any merit that which he obtains.** 

Butjisten to the reply : 

" For shame, dear Friend ! renounce this canting; strain ! 
What wouldst thou have a good great man obtain ? 
Place — titles — salary — a gilded chain — 
Or thrones of coi^es which his sword hath slain ? 
Greatness and goodness are not means, but ends ! 
Hath he not always treasures, always friends. 
The good great man ? — three treasures, love and light, 
And calm thoughts, regular as infant's breath ; — 
And three firm friends, more sure than day and night — 
Himself, his Maker, and the angel Death." 

Do any of us possess anything of what may be 
termed the romance in morals — a thirsting for deeds of 
danger and daring — a willingness to encounter the 
worst forms of danger, and death even ? Let it be 
chastened, purified, and then given to the great en- 
terprise of the age, the moral regeneration of man. We 
shall find scope for all the enthusiasm of the red-cross 
warriors, and may direct it, not to the recovery of our 
Lord's sepulchre, but to the establishment of his king- 
dom. 

The next generation will need men — such, perhaps, 
as the world has never seen. The materials for these 
men are now in our hands ; much, very much, is de- 
pending upon our workmanship. The great lines of 
prophecy and Providence are converging, and great 



64 MR. SMITH 3 LECTURE. 

events are in store. The present generation will pass 
avray, and perhaps many follow it, before the school- 
master shall enjoy all the advantages to which his posi- 
tion entitles him. But we can do much for our succes- 
sors. The next generation will be in advance of us — 
they will have the advantage of our labors. In no way, 
therefore, can we aid them so effectually as by improv- 
ins; ourselves. Amid the confused and vulvar din of 
Mammon's worshippers, let us keep steadily in mind, 
that we may invest capital more safely than in bank 
stock or Texas scrip. If we look for no higher reward 
than our quarterly bills, we shall probably do little to- 
wards kindling celestial fire in the breasts of our scholars. 
The spirit of the age is becoming more and more favor- 
able to our enterprise. Some have already dared to 
say, that the fashioning of the souls of a generation, by 
knowledge, should rank on a level with blowing their 
bodies to pieces with gunpowder j and that with gen- 
erals and field-marshals for killing, these should be 
world-honored dignitaries, and, were it possible, true 
God-ordained priests, for teaching. 

It speaks well for the temper of the times, to see the 
executive of one of our New-England States laying aside 
the rough panoply of politics, and advancing to the pro- 
motion of what he considers the still higher interests of 
education. 

When the Saviour of mankind " ascended upon high, 
and led captivity captive, he gave gifts unto men. And 
he gave some apostles, and some prophets, and some 
evangelists, and some pastors and teachers." Apos- 
tles and prophets, pastors and evangelistc, have already 



THE CLAIMS OF TEACHING. 65 

appeared, and much has been done for mankind. But 
among the rich gifts which Providence has jet in store, 
will be found the true and devoted teacher ; for what 
have already been sent, must be regarded only as so 
many studies preparatory to his appearance. And 
while we wait for his coming, and long for his appear- 
ing, let us attentively study some of the great outlines 
of his character, in the life of his forerunner, the la- 
mented Thomas Arnold. 



4* 



LECTURE II. 

FIRST PUIKCIPLES OF SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 

BY REV. JOHN P. COWLES. 

It is not mj purpose to touch, even slightly, upon 
all the First Principles of School Government, nor to 
discuss any one of them in full. It is rather to select 
some of the most important, and to investigate them fun- 
damentally. I would find some solid ground, on which 
there shall be firm standing ; — some soHd rock, un- 
moved and immovable, while all is in commotion around. 

Such a foundation there must be in reality. The 
truth concerning government is not of yesterday, manu- 
factured to suit the market like novels, or more like the 
newest styles of dress goods, fresh from the shops, but 
to be fresh only a day. It is, like its Author, ever- 
lasting, the same yesterday, to-day, and forever. Well 
for us if we can find, and finding, keep it ; if, having 
proved all things, we have discernment to see, and 
courage to hold fast, that which is necessarily and 
therefore always good. The cloud-compelling theorist 
needs no foundation. His business does not lie upon 
Terra Firma, where some foothold is actually requisite 
for standing and walking purposes ; but in the shadowy 



68 MR. COWLES'S LECTURE. 

regions of thin air, — 271 mihihus. AYh at signifies solid 
rock to the light-footed Camilla, as she 

" Flies o'er tli' unbending corn, and skims along the main ? " 

The matter-of-fact millions must have matter-of-fact foot- 
hold on actual ground ; while skimmers of the main, and 
tenants of the air, may be allowed to fly and to carol 
their blithest and best, till Age shall tire or Time shall 
clip their weary wing. 

The true relation between school and teacher is a 
point of the first importance ; but it is perhaps as plain 
as it is important. The school is not made for the 
teacher, but the teacher for the school. The teacher 
is not the end, and the school the means ; but the school 
is the end, and the teacher the means. The teacher 
is not first provided and prepared, and then the school 
for him ; but the school is the first moving and final 
cause, and all else is, or should be, subordinate and sub- 
sidiary to it. The teacher, therefore, is not to aim at 
his own glory, ease or emolument, as to be attained by 
teaching. As httle is he to try any of his raw theories 
on the living souls before him, as though scientific 
interest in the doctrines of his profession were his chief 
motive, and the school-room meant only to dissect and 
exhibit the anatomy of human nature. 

Yet the teacher is not a foot for his pupils to walk 
with, nor a shoulder to carry burdens which they do 
not choose to touch ; but his is the seeing eye, the di- 
recting brain, and the quickening heart. There are 
indeed in the animal economy, vital and governing 
parts ; yet that economy is not made for them. The 
whole body is not for the sake of the eye, nor for the 



FIRST PRINCIPLES OF SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 69 

head, nor for the heart ; but an animal economy was 
first determined on, and then the vital and other parts, 
as necessary or incident to it. 

It follows that the good of the school should be the 
ruling consideration, outweighing any and all others. 
This is to be the teacher's object. His heart and life? 
— so much of his activity as can be called his life, — 
is to be given to it. 

It is the good of the school, in the largest sense, that 
is to govern all. It is never to be forgotten, that germs 
of immortality are springing into more and more ex- 
panded life around the teacher ; that habits, infinitely 
more enduring than monumental brass, are forming with 
every act done beneath his eye ; that the seed for fruit- 
ful harvests of corruption and shame, or of life and 
glory, scattered by youthful hands, are filling the air 
and falling into fertile soils on every side. Youth is 
indeed the school-time for life ; but the whole of life, 
including youth, is our school-time for eternity. A 
character is to be formed that will abide all tests ; a 
course is to be begun which will not only satisfy the 
demands of parents and of society at large, but which 
will meet the approving smile of the Great Author of 
all wisdom and virtue. Who can be truly concerned 
for the good of his pupils, and yet forget that conduct 
soon makes character, and character, finished, makes 
destiny for all duration ? Ere we are aware, the molten 
wax is hardened with its effaceless impression ; some 
vile image, some wicked principle, has left its ever- 
during brand upon the soul, and we perhaps were asleep 
the while. 

If the good of the school is to decide the question, 



70 MR. COWLES'S LECTURE. 

there must be government in it. There is in that ease 
no alternative. A school -without government is but a 
miscellaneous collection of human animals, without a 
bond of union, without cause to show for coming together, 
without fruit to show from coming together, save evil, 
only evil, and that continually. A family, without gov- 
ernment, is impossible. Without this element, the in- 
tegrity of the idea is gone. So of the nation. Without 
government, it is not a nation, it is a mere herd, a con- 
geries of human beings. To be a nation, there must be 
some head, some directing will, moving the whole as 
one, in all their common interests and concerns. 

It would seem that the Author of nature had pur- 
posely contrived to make the government of children an 
indispensable duty, by making it an inevitable necessity. 
Man, even adult, enlightend, christianized, infallibly 
makes shipwreck of all his best interests, without govern- 
ment ; and how much more must infancy, youth, and 
childhood ? Is there a plainer case of a fortiori arguing, 
than from the necessity of governing men, to the 
necessity of governing children? It is with strong 
appetites, working as impulses to drive him somewhere, 
but with no discretion, no experience whatever to guide 
him whither, that the child is committed to parental love ; 
and this very love to which the child is committed, can- 
not preserve even the existence without controllinf^ the 
conduct of the child. Its own gratification is made 
dependent on the discharge of its duty in this particular. 
So wonderfully has our Maker provided that the great 
end, government, shall be accomphshed. He has made 
it certain, by making it an indispensable condition of all 



FIRST PEINCIPLES OF SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 71 

parental, all domestic, all social happiness. He makes 
everything hang on it, that, whatever else may be neg- 
lected, this at least may be done. The sun might as 
well shine without giving light, and attract without mov- 
ing his subject-worlds in their bright circles around him, 
as the parent's eye see and his heart love the good 
of his children, and yet he refrain from putting forth 
authority to guide them in the right path. 

In an inferior degree, perhaps, but yet as truly, the 
same things apply to teachers. 

Granting the necessity of government in a school, 
Yfhence shall it be copied ? Where shall we look for 
its principle, for the model on which it is to be framed ? 

If there be a perfect system of moral government any 
where in existence, it would seem that we could not 
choose but adopt that as our model. 

If, besides its perfection, it be the very one that is, 
and ever must be, over us, whether we will or not ; — 
especially if it be the whole of all just and right educa- 
tion, to habituate us to obey it in all its extent and 
duration, then is the case more than plain. We have 
our model. It would be folly to ask more or to search 
farther. 

We should copy, indeed, with a wise caution of not 
endeavoring to transfer to our system, principles which 
finite powers and faculties cannot apply in practice. We 
are not omniscient. We cannot unerringly judge of the 
heart, because we cannot intuitively see it. Exact and 
final adjustment of rewards and punishments to the 
merit and demerit of actions is not ours. But after all 
necessary abatement on these and the like accounts, it 



72 MR. COWLES'S LECTURE. 

remains that school as Tvell as family government should 
be an imitation of the government of God, with more or 
less left out which we, being every way finite, cannot 
copy. 

First, then, the test government for a school is not re- 
'publican. There may be pupils in it who are wise, but 
not as the teacher is wise. There may be pupils who 
have disinterestedness and power, but not to equal the 
teacher, if he be such as he ought to be. 

Not that the views and wishes of pupils should never 
be consulted, much less that they should never be grati- 
fied. But for a school, be it as it may for nations of 
full grown men, a formal republican government is not 
the thing. A school thus left to itself, might very 
probably at length go farther than its first intention, 
and adopt the no-government theory with all its con- 
sequences. 

But if the pupils of a school are not wise and good 
enough to govern themselves in the best manner, it should 
be governed by a wiser head, or heads ; whether it were 
thought that one, or two, might best rule what is most 
evidently but a single kingdom. 

If the pupils of any school are wise and virtuous enough 
to govern themselves as they ought, it is high time 
that they, having already been tried and found faithful 
over a few things, should be made rulers over many. 
The world is not so full of able and faithful teachers, 
and of good citizens in other walks of life, that such rare 
examples can be spared from active usefulness. Give 
place for them in the upper rooms where they belong. 
Bender honor to whom honor is due. Keep not the 



rmST PRINCIPLES OF SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 73 

adult in leading-strings, if adult in wisdom, knowledge 
and virtue. Put office upon shoulders that have been 
proved able and worthy to bear it. 

What kind of teacher must that school have, which 
governs itself as well, or better, than he can govern it ? 
Either he must be so inferior as to be unfit to manage 
a school, or his pupils must be so superior that thej need 
be pupils no longer. 

Think of the universe under republican government. 
Imagine a congress of worlds, legislating for all beings, 
all things ; — children, trying to make stars ! And is a 
creature, as yet unable to feed, clothe, or shelter itself, 
fit to be trusted with the care and direction of its own 
studies and behavior ? 

A school, hke a family, is one. It is one collection 
of pupils; it has one end, one interest, one success or 
failure. It follows in all reason, that it needs one head. 
There should be but one, and that one should be head. 

Partnership in trade is a different affair ; because 
there is in such cases no government to be carried on, 
no discipline to be exercised, no authority to be main- 
tained. There is here no demand for a government ; 
no call for an executive head. But what would a com- 
pany of soldiers be, without a captain, or with two f or, 
which comes to the same thing, a captain, whose powers 
and duties should be well defined and understood ; and 
an overseer^ with indefinite and extraordinary powers, 
— at liberty, and therefore likely, to dash in on the 
regular captain at hap-hazard, like that prince of reform- 
ers, Don Quixote, upon the plodding old wind-mill ? 

If there must be a pair of governors for a single 



74 MR. COWLES'S LECTURE. 

school, they should be like the Siamese twins, instinct 
throughout with one motion, and all but one soul ; or 
knit together, like husband and wife, unable to quarrel 
without mutual destruction. Otherwise, it would too 
often be the business of the Superintendent to interfere ; 
and he must be something more, or somethiug less, 
than man, who should not make full proof of that voca- 
tion. The fruit of interference is offence, as the fruit of 
the vine is grapes ; and offence, by one step only, leads 
to open quarrel. No wonder if the vineyard should 
be, — it would be a wonder indeed if it were not, — 
neglected, in the dispute how it shall be managed. It 
would be strange indeed, if in such a school, order and 
discipline did not speedily become an empty name. 

There must then be in each school one head, invested 
with rightful and supreme authority to govern it for its 
own good. 

Obedience to the authority .of this one head must he 
secured. Not eye-service, rendered from mere fear, 
which, alone, is base, whatever it may be when linked 
and blended with love ; not a weak yieldingness, which 
would give up every thing to every body, on asking ; 
not self complaisance, which even in obeying seems to 
say, " I do it to please myself, and not ?/oii," thus 
spoiling the whole ; but a cheerful and affectionate com- 
pliance of the pupil's with the teacher's will, beginning 
in principle, grown into habit, and even far more delight- 
ful to the subject to feel and render, than to the spec- 
tator to behold ; — though, to him, it be infinitely more 
fragrant than Sabsean odors to the sense. This is not 
a hard doctrine. None is, none can be, milder, as 



FIRST PRINCIPLES OF SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 75 

none can be more important. 1*^0 cultivation can exter- 
minate the thorns and briars which forever grow in 
the path of the froward. I^o instruction, no practice, 
no power, no time, no eternity, can make it easy, can 
make it other than follj and wo, to resist just authority ; 
while all kinds of real good, now and ever, by a sure 
and unfailing tenure, belong to the obedient. 

There can be no right or useful character, without 
submission to rightful authority. What are all knowledge 
and skill, what are polished manners, what are all per- 
sonal accomplishments, what is eloquence, what is genius 
even, if linked with an obstinate and universal froward- 
ness of temper, contrary to all law and authority, reck- 
less of duty, hateful to God ? A " meek and quiet 
spirit " is indeed above all price. No lawful care, no 
just efforts to secure it, can be deemed extravagant. 
Once secured, it is easily made habitual ; and it is 
among the other virtues as the sun in the heavens, as 
the heart in' the animal frame. 

It is not for his own sake, but for the pupil's, that the 
teacher should endeavor to secure the spirit and form 
the habit in question. It is true, that as disobedience 
is the greatest of all trials to him, as a man, and the 
greatest of all hindrances to his labors as a teacher, 
he may, and must, feel the wound it inflicts on him. 
But infinitely greater interests are at stake. There 
are characters before him that must be changed, and 
soon changed, or the consequences must naturally be 
fatal for all worlds, under all just and wise govern- 
ment. All beauty of character, all the happiness of 
existence are in peril, and the teacher is called to the 



76 MR. COWLES'S LECTURE. 

rescue. Can there be any doubt what be sbould do, 
and that be sbould do it quickly and thorougbly ? 
There is for bim no alternative. He may not whine 
about the cost to bis feelings, much less the cost to bis 
reputation, if be enforce obedience. He has consented 
to put himself where it is his first duty to govern, and 
he must take up his cross. It maybe to bim a task ; it 
cannot but be a heavy responsibility ; but what then ? 
Shall a task not be done, because it is hard ? Who- 
ever would escape heavy responsibilities, must slip igno- 
miniously back into his native nothingness. Forward, 
there is nothing but responsibihty. Nor is there any 
greater folly than to think that prompt and efficient 
measures are the most difficult, and will not bear to be 
executed. Insubordination, let alone, grows like Jonah's 
gourd. "While we linger, and cry, peace , and soft 
measures^ it mounts above our bead, and rules the hour. 
If it were to our shame and confusion of face alone, that 
might be but small loss ; but everything goes to wreck 
and ruin, when the spirit of insubordination bears sway. 
It is not the school only, it is all life, it is the entire 
interest of the deluded ones through all coming dura- 
tion, and that of millions more, it may be, bound up with 
theirs, that is concerned. If a teacher would be faith- 
ful, then, he cannot choose but to set out with the pur- 
pose of securing at all events the spirit and habit of 
cheerful and affectionate obedience. This is the first 
thing in parental government. It is the first thing in 
the government of God. The laws of Nature are His, 
and He teaches us submission to them every day. With 
line upon line, and precept upon precept, He teaches us 



PIRST PRINCIPLES OF SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 77 

the path of natural prudence ; and for penalties to 
enforce obedience, stops at no weak measures. It is a 
narrow path which we have to tread under this dispen- 
sation ef Nature, with much to shun on the right hand, 
and much on the left, and heavy loss often befalliDg even 
the careless wanderer. Why then should false delicacy 
and cautiousness of exercising authority make us so lax 
in government, that it shall offer no longer the faintest 
image of the Divine and All-perfect ? 

That government is weak, whose whole strength con- 
sists in the love of its subjects ; and that government is 
equally weak, whose whole strength lies in their fear. 
It is not love only that makes the willing feet move in 
cheerful obedience. ISTo more can fear, alone, do it. 
Despotisms are as feeble as that fond and foolish type 
of nursery government, whose maximum of discipline is 
the tender inquiry, " Why do ye so ? " Love and fear 
must go together, in that harmonious union ordained 
from the beginning, and perfectly exemplified in the 
natural and moral system under which we live. Good- 
ness and severity are mingled in all the ways of God 
toward us. Who is so unwise as even to think that 
either can be dispensed with ? or who can say which 
exceeds, the attractiveness of the one, or the dreadful- 
ness of the other ? It is vain to talk of a government 
all mercy. The thing cannot be. It were as easy to 
pick up spilt water with the fingers, as to gather together 
the scattered remnants of an authority that has been 
completely melted away under the laxative principle of 
mere mercy. Authority must have body and substance. 
It must make itself respected and feared. It must 
have the power and the will to punish, if necessary, in 



78 MR. COWLES'S LECTURE. 

order that the cases of necessity may be few and far 
between. 

Will it be said that the principle of fear is base, and 
that it is base, appealing to it ? Then who more base 
than He, who every moment, upon system, and of course 
with set purpose and care, makes use of this very prin- 
ciple to govern every creature that hath the breath of 
life ? Nor is this even the strongest view of the case 
God has rooted and grounded the principle of fear in our 
natures so deep and strong, that no power can rend it 
away ; and it will not be denied that he has done it for 
the very help it affords in governing. This must be the 
final cause of fear. What kind of policy is that which 
would eschew an element of authority deemed so essen- 
tial by one who had the world of ways and means before 
him whence to choose, and infinite wisdom for his guide ? 

I am speaking of the just proportioning of love to 
fear, — of goodness to severity. The proportions may 
vary endlessly, with varying characters and occasions ; 
but it is plain, that in a government over imperfect 
beings, neither element can ever be wholly spared. A 
single consideration shows this conclusively ; namely, 
that both elements are every where mingled and blended 
in the dispensation under which we find ourselves by 
experience to be. Great and manifold, indeed, are the 
evils of excessive severity in human governments ; but 
in no wise greater, though perhaps oftener seen, than 
the evils of excessive indulgence. When too great 
severity has been exercised, an unexpected flow of kind- 
ness often touches with new and strange emotions, and 
revolutionizes the whole character j but none can pre- 



FIRST PRINCIPLES OF SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 79 

diet this as the universal result, who duly considers the 
infinite and unbroken kindness and never undue severity 
of God to man, and man's strange frowardncss under all. 

True, the great expedient of Heaven to recover us, 
is love^ and love in the most touching forms and mani- 
festations ; and equally true, that severity^ alone, can 
never melt the heart ; but neither can that love do it, 
which can never turn to wrath. Divine love must not 
only be admired, but also feared, that it may melt. 
What but contemptible is the sickly weakness of that 
over fond and foolish love, which can never by any 
crisis, even of universal disobedience, be roused to 
maintain itself and all right and law, by just and merited 
punishment ? More hateful, indeed, but not more con- 
temptible, is hat severity whose frown is stereotyped, 
and therefore u lalterable, the same for all ; which can- 
not be well pleased, even for righteousness' sake ; 
which cares to magnify no law, but its own caprice ; 
and which seeks every other end more than the best 
good of its unhappy subjects. 

The rules of a school, for many reasons, should be 
few. The short memories of children is a good and 
strong reason ; the superior efficacy of right principle, 
with some few comprehensive precepts to guide it, over 
a multitude of technical statutes, is stronger ; but the 
analogy of that government whose equally simple and 
comprehensive laws are. Love God supremely, and thy 
neighbor as thyself, is the strongest of all. Secure a 
principle of obedience ; let the love of right be implanted 
in the heart ; and there will rarely be gross departures 
from the straight path. A child well-trained at home 



80 MR. COWLES'S LECTURE. 

will scarce be sensible, in school, in college, in civil so- 
ciety, that any government is exercised over him. He 
will not come in contact with it as a government. He 
will not know it, nor be known by it, from any difficulty 
about subordination. For such a one, certainly, a mul- 
titude of statutes would be useless ; and of what use to 
others ? Mince up all authority into fine-drawn rules, 
till nothing general shall be left ; make yourself a mere 
orderly sergeant, the school-room a parade ground, and 
every exercise a mechanical drill ; but to what end ? 
The precision of military discipline is mighty in battle ; 
but of what use elsewhere ? 

The children of Israel, fresh from the brick-kilns and 
slave-whips of Egypt, unused to rational liberty, might 
need a multitude of carnal ordinances. It must be 
" touch not^'^ " tmU not^'' " handle not^'' at every cor- 
ner. We live, in this respect, under a new dispensa- 
tion. The handwriting of such ordinances is blotted out. 
The clear sun shines, and we are able, and are expected 
to see our way, with fewer landmarks and less minute 
directions. 

Provided, nevertheless, that rules must be multiplied 
as real occasion demands ; and if lying down and rising 
up, and eating and drinking, be not performed as they 
ought to be, without rules, then rules should be made 
to regulate them. 

I have spoken of mingling severity with goodness 
in all government. Government implies law ; law im- 
plies penalty ; and all penalties must be more or less 
severe, or they are nothing, and less than nothing. 

But where shall penalty touch the offender ? In some 



FIRST PRINCIPLES OF SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 81 

sensitive point, surely. It must touch him where he is 
and feels. Punishment is not a surgical operation, 
that Dr. Morton's preparation should first be inhaled. 
What is punishment that is not felt ? And why may 
it not make itself felt in any sensitive point ? Why 
this overgrown fastidiousness about corporal punish- 
ment ? Why such exquisite care of the body, as 
though it were not made of clay, or were made of glass ? 
He is an enemy to justice, who would narrow the 
space for inflicting it, beyond due bounds. As to cor- 
poral punishment, the question is easily settled. The 
Author of Nature inflicts it, and we may. Since He 
does it, it is, in general, neither unwise nor base. If we 
surfeit. He punishes with a headache, perhaps with a 
fever. If we do the same for years. He may end our 
lives with apoplexy. If we do but put the end of a fin- 
ger in a candle, we are burned ; our flesh is burned. 
The remonstrance of Nature is not verbal ; it is cor- 
poreal. If we misuse our eyes, we are punished in the 
eye, and with pain, often acute and long, sometimes 
remediless. If we tax the brain too hard, weariness, 
vertigo, inflammation, insanity, idiocy, death, may be 
and often are the consequence. It is all from the mild 
and indulgent Author of Nature, wonderful in counsel 
and excellent in working, — infinitely older than we are, 
and infinitely more experienced in governing both flesh 
and spirit than the late-born reformers of the nineteenth 
century. If we expose our heated frames suddenly to 
a current of air, colds, fevers, and consumptions often 
follow ; all, corporal punishment, and inflicted on set 
purpose and system, by Him who, a fortiori ^^ovULdi not 

5 



82 MR. COWLES'S LECTURE. 

lay an atom's weight of pains and penalties on the body, 
if it is mean, base and barbarous for us to do it. If 
we give ourselves to strong drink, there is a loss of 
natural, an increase of the artificial appetite ; unnatural 
prostration, unnatural excitement ; headaches, and 
gnawings within, as of an insatiable worm, that never 
says, "^woM^A; " a reeling brain, a shivering delir- 
ium ; a body, in fine, punished all to shreds and tatters ; 
its very life at last punished out of it. Yet " the Author 
of Nature never punishes the body, and we must never. 
It is an old notion.''^ It is indeed old. It was with God, 
when the foundations of Human Nature were laid, and 
is one of its strong pillars, not to be shaken till corrup- 
tion shall put on incorruption, and the earthy put on 
the image of the everlasting. 

If the notion and the practice be barbarous, what is 
the character of its Author and Contriver ? Will it be 
said, it is all Nature ? Certainly all this is Nature ; 
and therein is the strength of the argument. It is not 
only God working, but working habitually, with set and 
original contrivance, planned of old, in the beginning, 
or ever the earth was, in order that it might do its 
work with unfailing and mechanical precision. Nothing 
shows design more plainly. An invisible hand plying 
the scourge on a culprit's back, would not be so clear 
proof of design to punish in the body. Such a case 
would be single ; perverse ingenuity might suggest a 
thousand explanations ; and obstinate wilfulness might 
refuse to believe even its own eyes. But when, in all 
human experience, certain bodily punishments are found 
to follow invariably certain wrong actions, then the evi- 



FIRST PRINCIPLES OF SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 83 

clence of design is indisputable ; unbelief must give 
way, and admit that all tbe scourges that man inflicts 
on his fellow, are as the small dust of the balance to 
those which, by mis-working the machinery of his own 
nature, man inflicts on himself, or, with equal truth, God 
inflicts on him. 

Will it be proposed that every headache of the 
drunkard, every fever, every cold, all the pains sent to 
punish our guilty excesses, shall be registered against the 
Author of Nature ? Will it frighten Him into modern 
propriety and civilization, to see the long list of bodily 
pains and penalties which He has inflicted on the dig- 
nity of Human Nature, all published to the world ? 
Alas, for the presumptuous blindness of erring man, 
forever in effect, if not openly, charging God foolishly ! 

Idle, all idle, the attempt, the idea, of abolishing 
corporal punishment. It may be forbidden to school 
teachers, and discontinued by them. It may be ren- 
dered odious to some by exhibiting a register of its in- 
flictions, and may be odious to others, whose Sybarite 
effeminacy cannot endure that even a criminal should 
feel a pang, or utter a sigh. Parents may think, and 
try, to be wiser than parents ever were before ; and 
from imagined fondness, working like the worst hatred, 
may spare their poor, ill-fated children the rod. But 
it is only the smallest possible fraction that is thus sub- 
tracted from the sum total of corporal inflictions under 
that government whose whole foundation and essential 
spirit are ineffable love. The great Laboratory of Na- 
ture's whips and scourges will still go on as busily and 
unerringly as ever ; and headaches, colds, and fevers 



84 MR. COWLES'S LECTURE. 

gout, palsy, and apoplexy, will still punish mankind in 
the body, just as if nothing had ever been said or -writ- 
ten against it, and just as if nobody were opposed to it. 
The fact is, that Nature does not seem to know who we 
are, nor to notice when we, silly flies, light on her chariot 
wheels. She reads no periodicals, knows nothing of 
votes and resolutions of honorable bodies, and is decidedly 
behind the Spirit of the Age. 

Shall man, who cannot be more just, aifect to be 
more wise, more kind, more civilized and refined, than 
his Maker ? When none but He who did no sin, es- 
capes corporal punishment, and all but two others have 
suffered death at the hands of the very Former of 
their bodies, shall we appear other than fools in this our 
extreme delicacy about laying a feather's weight on the 
body? 

Do as we may, man yet reaps as he sows. The 
boy from whom mistaken kindness now withholds the 
rod, may find, and truly show to others, that a little 
pain escaped, is lasting pain incurred. He may be 
strengthened by it in evil ways, whose natural punish- 
ments shall be such, that in comparison, the knotted 
scourge were balm, and the ferule a kiss of charity. 
Then will he curse the kindness and economy of false 
friends, who, taking counsel of their own folly and his 
weakness, sold his future welfare for his present ease 
and good-will, and left him a helpless victim in the 
hands of late, perhaps, but sure and even-handed justice. 

It is said, ^'Indulge as much, and deny as little, as 
you canJ^ This is hardly the plan of Nature, profuse 
as she is of her bounties. It is true, the words may be 



FIRST PRINCIPLES OP SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 85 

explained and understood in a sense entirely correct. 
Such words as can and possible, are like buoys upon 
the water, shifting with every wind and wave. Every- 
thing depends on your standard of duty. Each teacher, 
each parent, mai/ indulge all that he thinks he can, 
and yet differently from every other ; and none beyond 
what he ought. 

But, as the rule is generally understood and applied, 
it involves an error. Nature does not indulge us all 
she can, in the metaphysical sense of the word. She 
does not cosset us. She is kind at heart, but often 
rough in manner. She will on no account carry us in 
arms, nor banish every nuisance to oblige the fastidious. 
'She drives her " iron sleet of arrowy shower " into 
many a fair and delicate face, and sends her piercing 
cold through all possible furs and mantles, quite to 
the shivering limbs of the poor invalid. It is infinitely 
far from being her plan to gratify every wish, that, 
in itself considered, might appear reasonable. Plainly 
she loves better a strong character, than the fond pleas- 
ure of dandling us forever. She would have us rule 
our own spirit, deny our own wishes, bear incon- 
veniences, endure cold and heat, and wind and storm, 
hunger and thirst, watching and weariness. She would 
have us war a good warfare in this our natural life, and 
disciplines us accordingly. 

The discipline of school, in its general spirit and tone, 
should harmonize with that of Nature's Author, and not 
vainly seek to oppose and thwart it. Nature cannot be 
changed, but can and must be followed. She is easy, 
and even indulgent, to her followers ; but inexorably 



86 MR. COTVLES'S LECTURE. 

hard to those who kick against her. The Descensus 
Averni is not so easy as it is to float along ^yith the 
course of Kature, which is the standing will of God ; nor 
is anything more thoroughly impossible than to resist 
and thwart her established order and course. 

Let children, then, be trained, as the God of Nature 
evidently would have them ; to deny themselves, to 
govern the eye, the ear, the thoughts ; to quell the rising 
desire for things unlawful ; to bear and to forbear ; to 
be happy even without comforts ; to be blessed without 
luxuries, in the simple, but exalted work of doing their 
duty. Bright and unfading is the crown of that teacher 
who thus inures many to the ways of righteousness. 

It can do no harm, and must be beneficial in its 
results, to approve all that can co7isistently he approved. 
The teacher should always be ready and happy to say, 
''''That is right.''^ The analogy of Nature confirms 
these observations. A conscience void of offence, and 
full of peace, the favor of the good, the smiles of Prov- 
idence ; these are proofs of the Author of Nature's 
approbation of right conduct. They are not bestowed 
with a stinted, but with a liberal hand, as though it were 
really His delight to smile on us, whenever our conduct 
is such as to put it in His power. 

He does not stop at mere approbation, but largely 
rewards the faithful use of his gifts, fidelity in that 
which is least, advances to the care of that which is 
greater, ahke under the natural and moral dispensation 
of God. No false dignity, no stoic severity, hinders 
him from lifting the light of his countenance on the 
good and obedient, nor from pouring out his complacen- 



FIRST PRINCIPLES OF SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 87 



cy, in full tide, upon them. Even here, in this life, 
he blesses imperfectly right behavior, far above what we 
might have expected, or could have had any courage to 
ask ; with evident signs of somewhat more and farther 
ia reserve, to be bestowed hereafter, to which this pres- 
ent is but a beginning. 

If the Supreme and Infinite One feels, and without 
loss of dignity, with gain to his authority, can thus ex- 
press complacency in good behavior, should we bestow 
praise with hesitating lips, half-giving, half-withholding, 
lest discipline should suffer, and smiles breed familiar- 
ity, insubordination, and contempt ? Such results would 
only show that we had approved and rewarded in the 
wrong place. The principle would remain untouched. 
Praise^ theii, where you can, if you would give discipline 
its full power. The censure of him who can approve 
nothing, is worthless and ineffectual ; and so is the smile 
of him who never condemns. But the censure of him 
whose delight is to bless, who seizes every opportunity 
to reward, and whose strange work is condemnation, 
comes with crushing weight. It forces the conviction 
that we are wrong. The frowns of those who never 
chide are as powerless for all purposes of discipline, as 
are pinching Northeasters and steady cold weather to 
start and ripen the fruits that make glad man's heart. 
If you would make your frowns effectual, smile when you 
can, and frown only when you must ; and if you would 
use the rod to purpose, use it only when necessity 
applies the rod to you, but never fail to use it then. 
Both excess and deficiency will cripple your authority, 
and perhaps equally. 



88 MR. COWLES'S LECTURE. 

It is indeed a great error to find fault never ; for the 
case of no necessity occurring is not to be expected. 
It is an error, fatal to authority and discipline. It 
argues want of discrimination between what is right 
and wrong, want of displeasure at what is wrong, or 
want of courage to make it felt. With such views of 
a person's character, respect, confidence, and love, can- 
not co-exist. Jupiter's log, even, were as good and re- 
spectable a governor. Should we respect even God, if, 
with such infinite occasion, such necessity, he never 
frowned ? What would He be, more than any other 
post, if no disobedience could move him to wrath ? 
We should despise him, as the frogs did the impotent 
wood let down from Jove. What cannot scourge, can- 
not alarm. 

It is only those blessings which are meant for tests, 
that fall indiscriminately on man, and so seem not to 
distinguish the evil from the good. Such blessings as 
argue favor and loving-kindness, single out the dwellings 
of the virtuous, and fall never on the homes of the proud. 
None can think the Author of Nature to be of that good, 
easy character, which is equally pleased with all things, 
and which can never give pain. Nor will it be training 
our pupils for life as it is, if by letting what is wrong 
pass unrebuked, we lead them to think that the case 
will always and everywhere be the same. 

The discipline of school should be conformed in its 
spirit and end to the discipline of that higher school in 
which our very birth and being make us pupils, and from 
whose lessons, painful often, but never unwholesome, 
there is absolutely no escape, though they may often 



FIRST PRINCIPLES OF SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 89 

be administered without profit. He is a bad instructor, 
whose words or actions teach that Nature and Life are 
all sunshine and summer ; as well as he who makes 
the impression that all is clouds and winter. It is our 
duty, by effectually discriminating between the good and 
the bad, the silver and the dross, to make our pupils 
realize that all shall be rewarded according to their 
works ; incipiently, here : fully, hereafter. 

It is a good rule, not to repeat commands^ except to 
be understood. Every repetition, beyond what is neces- 
sary for this end, weakens discipline, and is a step down- 
ward from the seat of authority, easily taken, but hard 
to retrace. It is the fruit of weakness, and a fruitful 
cause of it in all discipline. I refer to the formal annun- 
ciation of the lawgiver's will, when a crisis is at hand ; 
and would not disparage that copiousness of instruc- 
tion alike found in Nature and the Bible, which is 
literally line upon line, and precept upon precept. 
There is but one Sinai, while the proofs and authen- 
tications of the Law there given are innumerable. 
Nature never coaxes, never burdens the air with re- 
peated beseechings. She has her law. Disobey, and 
you suffer. This makes her discipline mighty. You 
know on what to depend. You are certain that what 
gravitates, burns, drowns, freezes, to-day, will do the 
same to-morrow, and forever. Nor is there any 
ground to hope, or motive to wish, that the universal 
Governor might be any less exact and uniform in his 
moral than in his natural government ; and to us be- 
longs, not complaint, but conformity. 

It is the curse of poverty to be obliged to beg ; and 
5* 



90 MR. COWLES'S LECTURE. 

poor indeed in influence must that parent or teacher 
be, -who begins by commanding, and, after exhausting 
all the treasures, both of Xantippe and of Eli, ends by 
driving a bargain for obedience, and buys for compli- 
ments or candy, -^'hat should have been rendered at 
command. 

Is it asked. What shall be done when a command, once 
given, and well understood, is not obeyed ? 3Iahe it 
obeyed, is the answer. Is it asked again, IIoiu make 
the pupil or child obey ? Punish, if necessary, because 
it is necessary, and as long as may be necessary, is the 
answer. This is the way, and the only way, to make 
punishments few, the pain of inflicting them little, and 
the good resulting great. 

A spirit of true, unaffected benevolence is essential to 
all beneficial and successful government. Love must 
dictate all, even the utmost severity of discipline. 
Judgment must be, and must seem to be, a strange 
work, and mercy a delight. The teacher that would 
make his authority firm and strong, must be slow to 
anger, and ready to forgive. Let him learn the great 
secret of the Gospel's power. It is its Idndness ; it is 
the good-will to men, inscribed on every fold of its 
banner, inspiring every doctrine, animating every pre- 
cept, every threatening, every invitation, which the 
Ever-living- Spirit makes mighty to break the proudest 
wills, and melt the hardest hearts. It is the kindness 
of a God that can punish, and which would be without 
force if it could not ; but it is kindness^ real, indispu- 
table, infinite, universal. Who knows not the power 
of kind looks, and kind words, over the froward, that 



FIRST PRINCIPLES OF SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 91 

have long been estranged from all sense of human 
charity? What vast power over minds and hearts 
belongs to him, to whom every pupil looks, and cannot 
but look, as his best friend ! Confidence is everything 
in government ; confidence in our judgment, in our 
love. What will not the soldier do for the commander 
in whose judgment, skill, and kindness he can trust ? 
An army can be led to certain death by a Leonidas, whose 
bosom is the first bared to every danger, who takes the 
lead in every toil and sacrifice, instead of imposing 
burdens and requiring tasks which he would not him- 
self touch with one of his fingers. 

It would indeed be a mistake to suppose that the ut- 
most kindness, and the utmost wisdom, combined, will 
secure universal obedience. There is frowardness 
which is more than a match for infinite wisdom and 
infinite love, and it is found not seldom. But, while we 
may not expect universal success, with our highest com- 
bination and best exercise of these indispensable ele- 
ments, we can expect no true success at all without 
them. The obedience we may seem to secure, will be 
mechanical, forced, not from the heart, not tending to 
form a habit of doing right, not leading our pupils to 
govern themselves. 

A government, wise and kind, will always be re- 
spected, though it may not always be obeyed ; and re- 
spect, real and heartfelt towards us, is vital to all our 
usefulness in forming character, and is a great step 
towards success. AYithout it, we can do nothing ; and 
with it, we can do much. 

To that infinite and uncreated Source, whence all 



92 MR. COWLES'S LECTURE. 

light, all love proceed, let us reverently turn our obe- 
dient souls ; and let it seem in our eyes none other 
than the worthiest and noblest of offices to reflect of 
those good and perfect gifts upon waiting eyes and will- 
ing hearts around us. 

What more can a mortal ask than to stand between 
the Divinity and his fellow creatures, and reflect his 
light and love on their minds, distant from his throne 
only by one degree ? Let no teacher despise his birth- 
right, nor sell it, like unbeheving Esau. All-judging 
Heaven will mete us out a just and large reward, if we 
be found watching for and doing our duty. 



LECTURE III. 

MANAGEMENT OF THE SCHOOL-ROOM. 

BY ARIEL PARISH. 

Tbe school is a miniature community, a section of 
society. It contains within itself all the elements of the 
hody politic, of which it is a part. In it are the mag- 
istrates, officers of government, mechanics, agricul- 
turists, the men and women, of whatever grade and 
employment, of the next generation. There, in embryo, 
is every passion and feeling incident to human nature. 
There, already appear those incipient habits, which, if 
left to their own downward tendency, will sooner or 
later degrade the man into the brute or fiend. 

Like the invisible electric fluid which pervades all 
material objects, beneath, around and above us, when 
left to its own eccentric and devious course, deals de- 
struction to the works of man and death to himself, but 
under the control of omnipotent mind, becomes a sub- 
missive messenger swifter than thought, subserving his 
wants, so the invisible spirit that dwells within that 
little community, is endued with a power for evil or 
for good, which finite mind can never comprehend. 

Into whose hands shall be committed interests of so 
vast a magnitude ? How can those who are to guide 



94 MR. parish's lecture. 

tliat subtle agency learn their duty, so as to discharge 
it -with all due fidelity to God and man ? May we not 
fondly hope that this Association, whose career has so 
auspiciously commenced, may be greatly instrumental 
in raising up a generation of laborers, who shall be 
" apt to teach," and devoted to their profession ? And 
while great men in high places, and a crowd of little 
men in their train, are heralding the virtues of exjjlosive 
cottony may it ever be the object of our highest ambi- 
tion, to discover the great secret for producing eiyansive 
minds ! 

A thorough and successful teacher will exhibit in 
the discharge of his official duties, two prominent quali- 
fications. 

1st. Skill to impart instruction. 

2d. Ability to govern. 

On these will depend, almost entirely, his influence 
and usefulness. And however much he may excel in 
the one, he cannot on that account afford to be deficient 
in the other. It is true, that in the department of 
teaching, he may impart such a degree of interest to 
the subject, or he may present it in so attractive a man- 
ner, as to absorb all the attention of his pupils, and 
thus, for the time, forego the necessity of resorting to 
any apparent controlling power ; — but this is only one 
of those desirable modes of so combining the elements 
of authority with the process of instruction, that only 
one, and that in its most agreeable attire, shall seem to 
the pupil to exist. 

Important as the former must ever be admitted to be, 
the latter must nevertheless take precedence in prac- 



MANAGEMENT OP THE SCHOOL-ROOM. 95 

tice, if not in actual merit. Allow me therefore to ask 
your attention to a few observations on the particular 
application of certain principles of School Government, 
before we proceed to notice the modes of administration. 

That " order is Heaven's first law," is a sufficient 
reason why it should exist on earth, especially to those 
who desire any resemblance ; and if anywhere on earth, 
it evidently should be found where the human mind is 
undergoing that purifying, renovating process, which 
shall prepare it for a holier influence, and fit it for its 
high destiny. But the common and almost only reason 
usually assigned, why order should be maintained in the 
school-room is, that those who wish to devote themselves 
exclusively to study and the exercises of the school, 
may do so without interruption or confusion. 

This certainly is one very satisfactory reason in its 
favor, and would come near being conclusive, if two 
things were true, viz. : If the subjects contained in 
the text-books were the only ones to be learned or 
taught ; and secondly, if pupils were mere machines, 
which could be set in motion and stopped, at the will of 
the master, as the engineer manages the locomotive. 
But if we rest satisfied with such reasoning, we fail to 
discover the full measure of benefit which a well di- 
gested system of government, judiciously administered, 
is designed to impart. 

The ignorance of the child is not limited to the sub- 
jects comprehended in his text-books ; nor is the 
teacher to be confined to them in his instructions. He 
is as ignorant of propriety in action, of the time when 
and the manner in which he may act, as he is of the 



96 MR. parish's lecture. 

relation of number in arithmetic, or of latitude and 
longitude in geography. The passions and feelings of 
the child are usually stronger, and for want of reason 
and judgment, more uncontrollable, in proportion, than 
in adult age. If suffered to " grow with his growth, 
and strengthen with his strength,? it is obvious that any 
amount of knowledge he might acquire, would not ren- 
der him a safe, a trustworthy man. On the contrary, 
it would be like making an intelligent robber a sentinel 
over your treasures, or giving a madman charge of a 
magazine of gunpowder. 

When, it may be asked, can the child ever be in- 
structed so advantageously, with respect to human ac- 
tions and his duties to his fellows, as when a moral 
principle is brought to bear on him, in which he feels a 
deep interest in its present application ? 

Among the ancient Persians, parents sent their child- 
ren to school to learn justice, and we are informed that 
their teachers made it a prominent object, in setthng 
the dissensions which occurred among the boys, to ac- 
complish it in such a way, that the principle of right 
and wrong should be made as clear as possible to their 
comprehension, and so impressed on their minds as to 
influence them in all their future conduct. And it is a 
suggestion worthy of serious consideration, whether 
much more time rightly employed by us in a similar 
manner, would not prove as beneficial to the interests of 
society here, as among the heathen Persians. No 
teacher who is known to connive at injustice can stand f 
a moment before the public sentiment of his school, 
much less of society at largo. Now let him direct that 



MANAGEMENT OF THE SCHOOL-ROOM. 97 

sentiment, so as to act on any violator of justice, wher- 
ever lie may be found, whether among boys in the little 
school circle, or among men, and he will perform a ser- 
vice of incalculable value to the human race. 

A majority of the pupils in every school, need to 
have impressed on their minds, the great importance of 
scrutiniziyig the motives by which they are actuated, 
of appreciating the benefit both to themselves and 
others, to be derived from cultivating honesty of purpose 
in all their plans. They should know that confidence 
between man and man, is the only permanent founda- 
tion on which prosperity in business can rest, the only 
security for the continuance of those enjoyments arising 
from the social relations of mankind. It would be rea- 
sonable to suppose that in the school-room, some of the 
happiest opportunities might be found, to impress this 
principle on the young mind in the most effectual man- 
ner. Yet it is an idea by no means uncommon among 
teachers respecting school government, that nothing but 
overt acts, direct, palpable violations of order, should 
receive special attention. Hence it follows, that the 
master of the school in many instances, after a general 
declaration of what must and what must not be done, 
acts the part of executioner merely, inflicting exem- 
plary punishment on thq^transgressor, as soon as he is 
detected, with scarcely an inquiry respecting the mo- 
tive or the cause which prompted him to the crime, 
and he leaves him, without revealing to the pupil the 
folly of his act, or imparting a salutary hint which 
would prevent a similar occurrence. 

The only palliation for a practice like this, which a 



98 MR. parish's lecture. 

teacher can pretend to oiFer is, that he is employed to 
teach science ; and if much of his time is occupied in 
explaining and enforcing j9rmc/p?es of action, instead of 
right practice, he must fail of answering the expectation 
of his employers. True ; but is he answerable for the 
mistaken opinion of his employers ? If he is placed 
over the school because he is deemed a competent per- 
son for the office, why should he not act according to 
the dictates of his own judgment, according to his own 
understanding of the matter ? If the members of a 
school need instruction more in those principles which 
should regulate their conduct among their associates, 
both in boyhood and manhood, then should the teacher's 
services be thus employed, even at the expense of the 
culture of the intellect and the acquisition of science. 

It would seem that a moment's reflection would be 
sufficient to settle this question. What may we expect 
on the score of fidelity, either now or hereafter, from 
the boy who acts on the principle to which we have al- 
luded ? If he is not detected in doing wrong, he may 
do with impunity whatsoever seems desirable to him. 
The intention, the apparent inclination to transgress, he 
knows will not be rebuked, and even an unsuccessful 
attempt, if it can be made to appear that there was no 
actual transgression, will pass without punishment. By 
way of illustration, let us suppose the practice of whis- 
pering is strictly prohibited. A pupil places himself in 
a position to violate this regulation, but at the instant 
he has well filled his lungs with air, inclined his body 
to a convenient position, and placed his lips in a proper 
form for accomplishing his purpose, the eye of the mas- 



MANAGEMENT OF THE SCHOOL-EOOM. 99 

ter rests upon Mm and he is called to an account. But 
he has not committed the act, and of course is released. 
What now will be the effect on his mind to influence his 
future conduct? If there is another more effectual 
method of creating that most detestable of all services, 
eye-service, it is not easy to conceive what it is. How 
much better to excite the love of well-doing, a sense of 
obligation to do right, and the habit of obedience to the 
demands of an enlightened conscience. 

Such a mode of procedure too much resembles the 
practice of the ancient Spartans. Among them it was 
esteemed a praiseworthy act in the boy who could com- 
mit a theft without detection ; and the lad who denied 
that he had stolen the fox, while it was at the same time 
gnawing into his vitals under his cloak, was deemed a 
hero and a martyr to virtuous principle. Why should 
we be so prone to copy the errors of the heathen Spar- 
tans and reject the more rational principles of the 
heathen Persians ? 

Another legitimate fruit of the skilful administration 
of school government, will be the establishment, in the 
mind of the pupil, of that important principle of action, 
self-denial. Impulsiveness, a propensity to gratify the 
present desires of the heart without regard to future 
consequences, is a common characteristic of the young 
and inexperienced mind. The indulgence of this pas- 
sion is the mainspring to a large proportion of the in- 
fractions of school regulations. Thus, a pupil whose 
mind has been excited by interesting sports in which he 
has been engaged, and expects to^ enjoy without the 
school-room as soon as the hour of liberation arrives, can 



100 MR. parish's lecture. 

hardly prevent his thoughts respecting them, from being 
uppermost in his mind, or easily refrain from communi- 
cating to his neighbor, even in the hours of study, some- 
thing of the object of so much interest to him. Whether 
it be a clandestine gratification of appetite ; the em- 
ployment of a mechanical genius with the penknife, 
pencil, or other instrument ; or the indulgence of a 
purely mischievous disposition, in the perpetration of 
little tricks when the mind should be actively employed 
in study, — they all tend to defeat not only the special 
object for which he attends the school, but also to retard 
others who are less under the control of such influence ; 
and, in short, when such practices become general, as 
they inevitably will under a lax discipline, mental dis- 
cipline will cease, the influence and moral power of the 
teacher are neutralized, and the whole object of the 
school is entirely subverted. 

Perhaps no one thing needs more the skill and vigi- 
lant attention of the teacher, whose object is to impart 
thorough mental disciphne and self-control, than these 
impulses, these springs of action in the young mind. 
How can he promote unity of thought, patient, ener- 
getic, long-continued mental application to a given sub- 
ject, if the pupil may fill his mind, and surround himself 
with more attractive objects ? Whatever is admissible 
into the school-room, of an amusing^ or entertaining 
character, must be uneonditionally at the disposal of 
the teacher. 

But in the management of this important principle, 
we must look beyond the brief period of the child's 
school-days, for reasons why it should be rigidly ob- 



MANAGEMENT OF THE SCHOOL-BOOM. 101 

served. If it be true that " the child is the father of 
the man," not only is his own personal welfare at stake, 
but the future interests of society at large, as much as 
those of that smaller community, the school, in the 
earlier influences of its operation. 

In yonder village are two citizens whose mental and 
physical endowments in early life were apparently 
equal ; their advantages for improvement in youth were 
alike ; and at the outset, no common observer could 
have foretold which would be the more shrewd manager 
of his affairs, the wealthier, or more respected citizen, 
or the individual on whom fortune would be likely to 
confer the greatest good. But go into the workshop 
of the one, whose hammer may be heard *' from early 
dawn till dewy eve," on whoso door may be read in at- 
tractive capitals the motto, " No place for loungers," 
or on the walls within, " Business before pleasure," 
" No time for long stories," and a secret of his success 
is divulged. He early acquired the power of self-con- 
control, of self-denial, of steady, undiverted attention to 
whatever object duty and his interests required. And 
need we ask why poverty stares the other and his family 
in the face at home ; why he complains that people will 
not trust his word in business transactions; why his 
business diminishes and yields him so little profit ; why 
he is not respected as much as others ; and finally, why 
he begins to manifest an envious disposition towards his 
more prosperous neighbor, and moroseness and ill-tem- 
per towards all around him ? 

A single glance at the habits of the latter individual 
from his youth upward to the present hour, will reveal 



102 MR. parish's lecture. 

the principal cause. Is there not a perfect consistency 
between the character of the school-boy, who with 
pockets filled with nuts and fruit, stealthily leaves his 
school duties to indulge his appetite, and the man who 
leaves pressing business at a stand at his shop, to spend 
a portion of his time in the neighboring grocery, in idle 
talk at the end of a cigar, or over a glass of intoxicating 
drink ? 

Is there not an analogy between the principles and 
practice of the reckless pupil, who spends his time to 
the neglect of his lessons in mischievous tricks, in com- 
municating by the sly whisper, the written communica- 
tion, or even the significant language of the fingers, or 
the expressive look of the countenance, in concocting 
schemes of amusement against the moment of release 
from present confinement, and the man ? or rather, is it 
not the principle of the hoy carried out into the practice 
of the man^ who may be seen at all hours of the day in 
public places, telling and seeking the last news, discus- 
sing the particulars of the last horse-race, a willing 
witness or participator in the mob-spirit and lynching 
operation ? 

These thoughts have been thus expanded, that we 
may the more clearly determine the true character and 
real importance of those principles, respecting which it 
will be our next inquiry to learn how they may be most 
easily and efficiently carried into practice. Many others 
might be offered, but these are sufficient for our present 
purpose. 

The leading idea connected with this part of our sub- 
ject, which it is desirable to have impressed on every 



MANAGEMENT OF THE SCHOOL-ROOM. 103 

mind, is, that in a wise and skilfully administered sys- 
tem of government, as much instruction can be imparted 
which shall be practically useful to the pupil and the 
world, in after life, as from the branches of study which 
are usually deemed the legitimate objects of a teacher's 
attention. 

If there is any pertinency in the reply of the wise 
old Greek, who on being asked what he thought it most 
important for boys to learn, answered, " that which 
they will need to use most when they become men," 
then is our argument stren ghened by his testimony, 

A French infidel is said to have asserted, that if he 
could have the exclusive control of a child, during the 
first five years of its life, he could teach it to violate 
every law of God and man without compunction ever 
after. Who shall draw the contrast between that man's 
labors and those of another^ who as firmly establishes 
virtuous principles ? It is not possible for the child to 
grow up with a perfectly developed and well-balanced 
character, without much instruction relative to that self- 
control and strict regard to the rights of others, and a 
knowledge of that propriety of action, which is de- 
manded in all his intercourse with cultivated society. 

It is unnecessary to dwell on the direct benefits the 
school will experience, if this department of instruction 
is conducted wisely with reference to the future. In- 
deed, present effect in the school may be taken as no 
uncertain indication of the future. 

It must ever be a subject of anxious inquiry to the 
young and conscientious teacher, about to assume the 
responsible duties of the oiGSce, " How shall I conduct 
my school ?" 



104 MR. parish's lecture. 

He who undertakes to transform the crude material 
of wood or metal, into an article valuable for its utihtj, 
or beauty, or both combined, may address himself to his 
task with a degree of confidence wholly unknown to the 
artist, who undertakes to mould the invisible, inde- 
structible spirit of man. A mistake in the one, may 
mar, or even destroy the material without irreparable 
injury ; but in the other, an impression is made, which, 
like the slight inscription of a name on the smooth 
bark of a young and thrifty tree, is rendered more con- 
spicuous by the lapse of time, and must remain as per- 
manent as the undying spirit itself. 

The first point, therefore, which the individual must 
settle, who proposes to engage in this business, is, " Have 
I the qualifications, 'physical^ intellectual and moral^ 
which the vocation demands ? " 

Let him who comes into this work with overweening 
confidence of himself, heed the monitions of the poet : — 

" Each petty Land 
Can steer a ship becalmed ; but he that will 
Govern and carry her to her ends, must know 
His tides, his currents, how to shift his sails ; 
What she will bear in foul, and what in fair weathers ; 
TMiere her springs are, her leaks, and how to stop them ; 
"What strands, what shelves, what rocks do threaten her ; 
The forces and the natures of all winds. 
Gusts, storms, and tempests. When her keel ploughs hell, 
And deck knocks heaven, then to manage her 
Becomes the name and office of a pilot." 

A feeble physician may safely and often advanta- 
geously prescribe for his patient, sufiering under disease ; 
but no individual of immoral principle, is competent to 



MANAGEMENT OF THE SCHOOL-ROOM. 105 

prescribe for the moral improvement of another ; nor 
can a feeble intellect greatly benefit another equal or 
superior to itself. 

Taking it for granted, however, that this matter has 
been duly weighed and settled ; that the individual is 
not only prepared to disclose the treasures of human 
knowledge, but is able to discover and control the 
springs of human action ; that he can read human na- 
ture in all her Protean forms and changes ; we will 
proceed to notice somewhat in detail, the " modus oper- 
andi," or practical application of principles, for carry- 
ing on the business of the school-room. 

The first day, the first moment even, on which a 
teacher enters the school, as a new field of labor, is 
fraught with untold interest to the pupils, and not un- 
frequently with important consequences to the teacher. 
Probably at no time during his whole connection with 
the school, will every word he utters be received with 
so close attention, and every movement on his part be 
so closely scrutinized, as on this which invests a new 
supervisor with authority over the pupils, from whom 
new measures are expected. And here must occur the 
first conquest on his part, or the first concession. It 
is said that, " a thing well begun is half done," and it 
is preeminently true in this case ; at any rate, it is 
questionable whether the teacher will ever do half he 
ought, if he makes a bad beginning here. 

The first requisite of the teacher, as he enters his 
school and takes his station at his desk, must be perfect 
self-possession^ based on a thorough conviction of his 
qualifications, and a determination to discharge his duty 

6 



106 MR. parish's lecture. 

in all faithfulness. It is a " si7ie qua non " for the time 
being, a concentration of all other excellences and 
qualifications. From this, in, connection Tvith his manner 
of address, his pupils will read the first chapter of 
school duties, under the new dynasty, before the teacher 
has had an opportunity to express his congratulations on 
meeting them. As he deliberately takes his seat, and 
casts his eyes over the company before him, as if to 
read the thoughts and intentions of every one, the brief 
silence of a few minutes will have an important bearing 
on his future action. All this can and should be done 
in perfect consistency with easy manners, and a certain 
degree of kind familiarity. At this beginning, at the 
very outset, gain the attention of every one, procure 
perfect silence, and with the least apimrent effort pos- 
sible. Set down the success of your first half hour, as 
your first victory, and be exceedingly "cautious that you 
lose not an inch of ground afterward. 

The idea entertained by some teachers, that it is 
best to let scholars have their own way, the first day or 
two, that the teacher may learn their dispositions and 
propensities, is a most erroneous and fatal one to all 
future success. They do not reflect that such delay 
will invariably be construed into weakness and ineffi- 
ciency ; moreover, that it is much more difficult to create 
order out of confusion, than io preserve it before disor- 
der commences. The pupils will discover more of the 
master's weaknesses in the time, than he can of their 
mischievous disposition ; and thus they gain the advan- 
tage by the delay, and are encouraged to do what, per- 
haps, they never would have conceived of doing under 



MANAGEMENT OF THE SCHOOL-ROOM. 107 

different circumstances. Every teacher of experience 
knows, that evil dispositions and actions will develop 
themselves quite fast enough to suit his convenience, 
under the best regulations. 

The next trait in the teacher's character which it is 
highly important that the pupils should readily perceive, 
is, that he has their improvement^ their present happi- 
ness and future ivelfare, at heart. While decision, 
promptness, and energy are apparent in all he does, 
they must all be softened by that " suaviter in modo,^^ 
— that apparent kindness and gentleness of manner, 
which shall give assurance, not only that the relation of 
teacher and pupil is to be a profitable one to the latter, 
but also a pleasant one. Let this be done, and the 
pupil will both appreciate any pleasing duty that may 
be assigned him, with more grateful feeling, and under- 
take difficult ones with greater cheerfulness and energy. 

At the beginning of your school duties, it is not only 
necessary to be particular with respect to your own 
manner of action, but likewise to the language you use, 
and the sentiments you express. Let the object for 
which the school is estabhshed, and theirs in coming to 
it, and the expectations of their friends as to the result of 
their present undertaking, be clearly stated. As you 
stand in the place of the parents, for the time, it is im- 
portant to address them with all the interest and affec- 
tion of parents, as well as with their authority. 

If the opening of a railroad, or the introduction of 
fresh water from a pond into a city, is worthy of a little 
ceremony, congratulations, and sententious speeches, to 
attract public attention to the object, and to express an 



108 MR. parish's lecture. 

interest in it, the occasion of opening anew the foun- 
tains of knowledge to the rising generation, can cer- 
tainly be a matter of no less consequence ; and well 
would it be, if committees and parents would unite with 
their teacher and children, on such an occasion, to im- 
part an impulse to the enterprise, which should render 
failure next to impossible. But in the absence of any 
such auxiliaries, let the teacher " define his own posi- 
tion," lay out the work to be done, assign each his 
duty, make the obligations of all clear to the compre- 
hension of every one, and he may then go cheerfully 
and hopefully to his labor. 

The introduction over, all preliminaries being rightly 
adjusted, the business habits and tact of the teacher 
will next be tested. And here is an element of no 
trifling value. No other vocation in the world can dis- 
pense with these, and be eminently successful ; it is of 
superlative importance to the teacher. He who can de- 
vote his attention to but one thing at a time, and whose 
.faculties are taxed to do that, will soon find, that while 
he is abstractedly engaged at one point, the satelHtes 
of his little school system will be revolving in epicycles 
around him, or wandering into illimitable space, be- 
yond the reach and influence of his gravitation. 

In most systems of intricate mechanical combination, 
it is usually the sole business of the superintendent, 
under whose charge they are placed, to direct the mo- 
tive-power, and see that every pinion, wheel and band 
performs its appropriate office. Here his duty ends. 
But the superintendent of school-room machinery, is not 
only straightened for want of the desirable quantity and 



MANAGEMENT OF THE SCHOOL-KOOM. 109 

quality of motive and controlling power, and by imper- 
fect machinery, but he has superadded to that an en- 
tirely distinct profession, viz., that of factor. Not only 
must he guide his machinery, but he must run after the 
market to dispose of his goods at the same time. 

Those who understand the ardent, excitable tempera- 
ment of children, and their impatience of delay, will 
readily perceive that, for these reasons, previous ar- 
rangement and perfection of the plan of school op>era- 
tions should he effected, that there may be as little 
hesitation and delay as possible, when the hour arrives 
for its use. But, in addition to the immediate benefit 
to be expected from it, is another quite as momentous. 
The teacher should be a model for his pupils in every 
thing he wishes them to be. Therefore, if he would 
prepare them for an accurate, systematic, prompt, ener- 
getic, and successful transaction of business, in what- 
ever pursuits of after-life they may be concerned, he 
should exhibit all these qualities before them in the 
daily business of the school. But never is it more im- 
portant than at the beginning of his administration, 
when the mind of the pupil is comparatively free to ob- 
serve every movement, and alive with interest to know 
what the new teacher is about to do, and to learn his 
manner of performing his duties. At such a time, a 
tardy movement or hesitation would be looked upon as 
indicative of ignorance of duty ; a precipitate action, 
involving blunders, or the practice of doing just what 
may happen at the time to fall in the way, without pre- 
meditation or system, would soon create confusion, 
amidst which no teacher could long sustain himself. 



110 MR. parish's lecture. 

And this suggests tlie next indispensable element in 
the management of a school, viz., a systematie ar- 
rangement of all the duties to he performed. This must 
be based on the principle of having a definite time for 
the performance of every duty, a proper place for 
every thing, and, as far as may be, a specified man- 
ner of doing every thing pertaining to the school-room. 

It is recorded of some of the most distinguished men 
the world has ever produced, that one prominent secret 
of their success is attributable to the systematic manner 
in which they attended to the business of their profes- 
sions. If this practice is advantageous to great men 
individually, it must be equally so, at least, to men of 
lower grade, where a greater number of interests is 
involved, in an association of individuals. 

A forcible illustration of this position many of you 
will recall to mind, who have visited that celebrated 
establishment for the manufacture of fire-arms, the 
Armory, in the town where I reside. It is the business 
of one man to cut off the portion of iron from the 
bar, which is to be wrought into proper shape to form a 
part of the gun-lock. A second workman gives it the 
rough outlines of the shape it is to assume when com- 
pleted. The rough file of a third carries it one step 
onward toward completion. Other nice processes fol- 
low, until the hand of the polisher gives it its " finishing 
touch." The Inspector, after scrutinizing it with a 
practised eye which imperfections cannot escape, signi- 
fies his acceptance, and the part is fitted to its appro- 
priate place in the lock. And, such is the perfection 
of the system in this establishment, that, among hun- 



MANAGEMENT OF THE SCHOOL-ROOM. Ill 

dreds of men employed, and out of hundreds of thou- 
sands of pieces which come from the hands of the 
workmen during a year, rarely does a solitary defective 
piece of work escape detection, and, when discovered, 
it is at once returned to the man to whom the defect be- 
longs. 

If skilful workmanship, and the great amount of 
labor performed there in a given time, be considered, per- 
haps the whole range of mechanism throughout the 
world cannot furnish another example to illustrate more 
strikingly the importance of systematic action. But who 
can tell why it is the public are more interested in em- 
ploying vigorously this principle in creating instruments 
of death, than in opening the well-springs of life to the 
immortal mind ? 

In many of our large scTiools in the cities and large 
towns of our Commonwealth, system is observed with 
some considerable degree of precision ; but in a large 
proportion of the schools it is believed that the principle 
is neither appreciated nor practised to any very valua- 
ble purpose. It is not overlooked, however, in that 
great institution, the army, in which men are taught 
expertness in killing their fellow beings. There, it is 
the chief agency which produces the difference between 
" regular, disciplined troops " and the " raw militia." 
It is not neglected in the cotton manufactory, where the 
extent of the dividends on the capital invested, depends 
on the quantity and quality of salable fabric produced 
from the raw material in a given time. And when we 
find our schools under a regimen approximating in strict* 
ness to either of those just named, we shall find a power 



112 MK. parish's lecture. 

and efficiency in them, or rather emanating from them, 
to diffuse itself through society, which will work more 
astonishing results than have yet been witnessed. 

One thing more remains to be noticed, and I leave 
this part of the subject. 

The teacher must have the cooperation of his pupils, 
in carrying into practice his views and plans. The 
more perfectly this point can be gained, the more sure 
and triumphant his success. No pains, — no efforts to 
secure this object will be too great, if the results to be 
attained be duly estimated. Indifference even, not to 
name open opposition to your system of operations, is 
not to be tolerated. 

But it may be said, — " This is the sum and sub- 
stance of all our difficulties, — the Gordian knot of 
school government ; " and the question returns again, — 
" How can the thing be done ? " 

If a non-conforming, alienated spirit is general and 
deep-seated in any school, the teacher's first and wisest 
course is, to examine himself most rigidly, and deter- 
mine impartially whether the fault be not in himself. If 
not, it is a most unreasonable, and, I may say, uncom- 
mon school, if, by kind and judicious management, the 
general sentiment cannot be changed and set right. If 
the difficulty is confined to a few thoughtless, insubor- 
dinate individuals, follow them in the spirit of familiar 
and affectionate regard for their welfare, — in the light 
of reason, — in view of their own interests, — the 
welfare of the school, — and, if need be, of your own 
authority, and the application of such power as you 
possess by virtue of your office, — until they surrender 



MANAGEMENT OF THE SCHOOL-EOOM. 113 

at discretion, or shall be ejected as unworthy of the 
privileges of the institution. 

The principal sources from which issue influences 
tending to weaken the cooperation of pupils with their 
teachers, are deemed to be the following : 

I. Ignorance. — Ignorance of propriety as to time^ 
manner, place, and duty. 

It is true, the pupil attends upon school duties he- 
cause he is ignorant, and needs instruction ; so that, in 
the nature of the case, this evil must ever be a natural 
concomitant of the teacher's vocation. It becomes, 
then, his peculiar duty to discriminate between trans- 
gressions arising from this source, and those which 
spring from malice or dishonesty. 

II. A partial incapacity to control and use the men- 
tal faculties aright, even under the strongest resolu- 
tions to do so. 

It is a part, and a very important part of a child's 
education, to overcome the fitful, impulsive propensities 
which always govern the undisciplined mind. What 
teacher has not often found transgressors ready to 
acknowledge the error of their ways when kindly 
reasoned with, — evidently sorry for what they had 
done, and determined to do right in future; yet under 
the next temptation they are overcome, and are appa- 
rently as far from rectitude as ever ? 

Now, while both these characteristics demand great 
clemency from the thorough disciplinarian, they are 
never to be treated in 2i feeble and inefficient manner. 
Ignorance, and an unrestrained spirit, whether found in 
the school or out of it, are capable of producing any 

6* 



114 MR. parish's lecture. 

amount of miscliief imaginable. By imprudent, violent 
measures, either of them may be driven to an irreclaim- 
able distance beyond a teacher's control ; but with 
judicious action, and unremitted attention to every 
phase they may assume, seldom will a case fail of yield- 
ing to suitable remedies. At all events, they must 
never be suffered to pass unnoticed. 

III. Previous occiqjcition with more interesting ob- 
jects, of a different character from ivhat the school 
affords ; or having habits already formed, foreign to 
the duties of the school, 

" No man can serve two masters ; " — nor can chil- 
dren, who are allowed to roam at will about the streets 
or fields, to seek amusement from every source to which 
inclination may lead them, be easily induced to conform 
rigidly and heartily to such systematic action as a good 
school requires. Unless the exercises of the school- 
room can be rendered m.ore attractive than objects 
without, although the bodies of the pupils may be con- 
fined for a specified time within the building, the attempt 
to call up any mental action will be nearly as futile as 
to undertake to arouse to consciousness and thought the 
seats they occupy. It is this class, and those of indo- 
lent habits, — the lazy physically and mentally, from 
which proceed, — 

IV. Inattention, — heedlessness and indifference to 
the requirements of the teacher. There will very natu- 
rally follow, — 

V. Trifling, playfulness, communications, inclina- 
tion to mischief, wilful neglect or evasion of duty, and 



MANAGEMENT OF THE SCHOOL-ROOM. 115 

finally^ O2oen opposition to it, — a rebellion against the 
authority of the school. 

The particular modes of managing these different 
phases of character, must be inferred from the general 
scope of the lecture ; time will not allow me to dwell 
on them. 

There is one principle, however, of so much impor- 
tance in its application, so effective in its operation 
when skilfully applied, that I shall venture to enter 
somewhat into a detail of its use. 

It is the principle of prevention, or the removal of 
every cause for transgression, as far as possible, from 
the pupil. 

The following case will serve to illustrate the general 
application of the preventive principle. 

Some few years since I became acquainted with a 
school consisting of some 175 scholars. In the same 
building were two other schools, and the aggregate 
number of pupils accustomed to assemble on the school 
premises was not less than 300. It had been the prac- 
tice among the children from " time immemorial," to 
collect on the school grounds, at all hours before and 
after school, from sunrise in the morning till dusk in 
the evening, for the purpose of play. So accustomed 
had they become to their practice, — so absorbed were 
they in this object, that they seemed to regard it as 
one of their " inalienable rights ; " and one would have 
supposed it was the subject of their first waking thoughts 
in the morning, — of their evening meditations on re- 
tiring to rest, — and the source of the dreamy visions of 
their midnight slumbers. The consequence was, that 



116 MR. parish's lecture. 

among the great number easily called together in the 
centre of a large and densely populated village, out of 
amusements innocent in themselves, grew a boisterous, 
reckless spirit, — an impatient, excitable state of mind 
incapable of listening to, or regarding rational require- 
ments that conflicted in the least with their views and 
feelings, — a habit of disputation, rough contradiction, 
and general ill manners, — coarse language, profanity, 
deception and falsehood, and not unfrequently angry 
contention among themselves, accompanied with foul 
epithets and bloody blows. 

Nor w^as this all. Within the school-room, the duties 
of the place were of secondary consequence to the ob- 
jects uppermost in the minds of the pupils. Patient, 
persevering study and mental discipline were out of the 
question. An uneasy restlessness, — an incipient spirit 
of insubordination, seemed to be breathed out, and to 
pervade the very atmosphere of the school-room^. A 
Yandal spirit was exercised on the school building, 
within and without ; upon the fences, and whatever 
else of a destructible nature came in their way, — as if 
the school-room and its appurtenances were provided at 
the public expense, as a sort of safety-valve for the 
neighborhood, where they might lawfully exercise their 
destructive and disorganizing propensity with the least 
danger and inconvenience to their friends and the 
public. 

Now, had an attempt been made to correct all these 
evils by the infliction of punishments, by vigilance, per- 
suasion and reasoning, it would doubtless have required 
more than the united virtues of a Job, a Solomon and a 



MANAGEMENT OE THE SCHOOL-EOOM. 117 

Samson, to have accomplished it. But a different course 
was taken. 

A regulation was adopted by the teachers and sanc- 
tioned by the committee, forbidding any scholar to come 
on the school grounds till fifteen minutes before the 
opening of the school, or to remain a moment after its 
close without express permission. The result was, the 
immediate disappearance of almost the whole catalogue 
of crimes and misdemeanors which had before so se- 
verely tasked the teachers and degraded the school into 
a Bedlam. It was the first grand step towards reno- 
vating, elevating the whole mass of pupils, and giving 
them a conception of what a school ought to be. Their 
minds were diverted from a most disastrous course of 
action, and directed into a channel calculated to lead 
them to an entirely different result. 

In order to illustrate more fully and particularly the 
point in question, I shall venture to describe a practice 
which I have pursued for some two years ; and with 
the utmost confidence, derived from actual experience, 
can assure teachers that many and great benefits may 
be derived from it, without any concomitant evils. 

A manuscript book, very plainly written, lies 
upon my desk in the school-room, containing an embodi- 
ment of all those principles and practices relating to an 
honest and faithful attendance on school duties, which 
tend to show the pupil who may need such aid, what 
he ought to do, and what he ought to avoid doing. 
Its precepts are arranged under appropriate heads, 
expressed as conciBely and clearly as possible, that no 



118 MR. parish's lecture. 

opportunity may be left for perversion or misunder- 
standing. 

It is not entitled a "'Book of Laws," — for in all it 
contains, no penalties are annexed. It is not called a 
" Book of Rules and Hegulations," — for that would be 
too formal for our purpose. It bears the simple title of 
"-4 manual of School Duties for the use and benefit of 
thepujJils of the Springfield Sigh School ^ 

In order to convey a clearer idea of the character of 
this little manual, and with the humble hope that some 
of the younger members of our fraternity may derive 
from it some useful hints, with less toil and care than it 
has cost its author, a considerable portion of the manu- 
script is here presented. 

" TO A NEW PUPIL ON ENTERING THE SCHOOL. 

Most pupils enter school with the expectation of obtaining a 
knowledge of the studies they pursue ; also, of conducting so 
as to gain the general approbation of their teachers in school, 
and of their frie7ids at home. 

Sometimes, however, scholars fail of learning as much as 
they expected; and often are reproved, or punished for mis- 
conduct because they were ignorant of what they should have 
done, or was expected of them. 

In order to save the pupils of our school from being morti- 
fied through ignorance of duties that may be required of them ; 
also, if there should happen to be any among our number who 
wilfully do wrong, and plead that they never knew they must 
not do so, these pages are prepared ; — to guide those who 
are willing to do right, and to leave no excuse to those who 
may be disposed to do wrong. 

It is taken for granted, that your special object in becom- 
ing a member of this school is, to obtain such benefits as it 



MANAGEMENT OF THE SCHOOL-EOOM. 119 

may be able to afford, for the improvement of the mind, that 
you may be more useful: — for the cultivation of your man- 
9iers, that you may be better able to render yourself agreeable 
to those around you ; — for the cultivation of your moral feel- 
ings, that your oion personal happiness may be increased. 

While it is expected that the teachers will be faithful in 
imparting instruction and in directing the general operations 
of the school, in the most thorough and agreeable manner ; 
certain duties no less important for the success of the school 
are to be faithfully and honestly performed on your part as 
pupils. 

Those scholars who know what is right, and always en- 
deavor to do right, seldom need to be reminded of what they 
should do, or what they should not do. Others need fre- 
quently to be admonished that they are wrong, that they are 
doing an injury both to themselves and their schoolmates, as 
well as to the teachers who instruct, and their parents, who 
support the school. 

The following directions are given, that all may know, at 
the beginning, what their duties are, as pupils, and on what 
conditions they are permitted to enjoy the privileges of this 
BchooL 

SECTION A. GENERAL DIRECTIONS. 

I. Resolve, on being received as a member of this school, 
to comply cheerfully with all the requirements of the teachers ; 
and faithfully perform every duty assigned you. 

H. Kesolve, that no impropriety or indecorum shall ever 
appear in your actions or words, while connected with the 
school. 

III. Always manifest and cultivate a kind and accommo- 
dating disposition towards schoolmates, — and respect towards 
teachers. 



120 MR. parish's lecture. 

TV. At all times let the school-room be regarded as sacred 
to study and meyital improvement. Never indulge in rude- 
ness^ childish trijling, loud and boisterous speaking, or 
anything that would be considered unbecoming in genteel 
company. 

V. Resolve, to lend your influence in every possible way, 
to improve the school, and elevate its character. 

SECTION B. DEPORTMENT. 

PARTICULAR DUTIES. 

Remark. It is as much a part of your education to cor- 
rect bad habits and obtain good ones, — to cultivate good 
manners and learn to conduct with propriety on all occasions, 
as to bo familiar with the studies pursued in school. Read 
carefully and remember the following particulars. 

STILLNESS. 

1. On entering the school, pass as quietly as possible to 
your seat, taking care to close the door gently, and avoid 
making unnecessary noise with the feet in crossing the room. 

2. Take out books, slates, &c., from your desk Avith care, 
and lay them down in such a manner as not to be heard. 
Avoid making a rustling noise with papers, or noisily turning 
over leaves of books. Never let the marking of a pencil on 
your slate be heard. 

3. Be careful to keep the feet quiet while engaged in 
study ; or, if it be necessary to move them, do it without 
noise. 

4. In passing to and from recitations, observe whether you 
are moving quietly. Take special care if you wear thick 
shoes, or boots, or if they arc made of squeaking leather. 

5. Avoid the awkward and annoying habit of making a 
noiso with the lips while studying. 



MANAGEMENT OF THE SCHOOL-EOOM. 121 

6. At recess, pass slowly out, — and return in the same 
manner. Leave all sports and noise outside the walls of the 
school building. 

7. Scuffiing, — striking^ — 'pushing^ or rudeness of any 
kind must never be practised, in the least, under any circum- 
stances, within the school building. 

SECTION C, PROMPTNESS. 

Mottoes. — ' Never delay till to-morrow, what you can do to-day.' ' There is 
no time like the present.' ' A stitch in time saves nine.' 

Remark. A lounging, — idle, — lazy scholar is like a drone 
in a bee-hive, not to be tolerated. In the same class must be 
placed those scholars who are heedless, — who are never ready 
to do what is required of them, until individually reminded 
of duty, — or who require constant prompting to make them 
do right. Therefore, observe, 

1. Every scholar should endeavor to ascertain his own 
duty, and promptly perform it. 

2. Be punctually at school. Be ready to regard every 
signal without delay, — to commence study, at once, when 
' study hours ' begin, — to give immediate and undivided at- 
tention, when a teacher addresses you, either individually, — 
with the class, — or with the whole school. 

section d. — neatness. 

Motto. — ' A place for every thing — and every thing in its place.' 

Eemark. The habit of observing neatness and order, 
should be cultivated as a virtue. 

1. Let your shoes or boots be cleaned at the door-steps ; 
always use the mat, if wet, muddy or dirty. 

2. Never suffer the floor under your desk, or the aisles 
around it, to be dirtied by papers, or anything else dropped 
on it. 



122 MR. parish's lecture. 

3. Avoid spitting on the floor. It is a vulgar, filthy habit. 

4 Marking or writing on the desks, walls, or any part of 
the building, or school premises, with pencil, chalk, or other 
articles, manifests a bad faste, or a vicious disposition to de- 
face and destroy property. None but a vicious, reckless, or 
thoughtless person will do it. 

5. Knives must never be used in cutting any thing on a 
desk. 

6. Particular care should be observed to avoid spilling ink 
any where in the school building. 

7. Let your books, etc., be always arranged in a neat and 
convenient order in your desk and upon it. 

8. After using brooms, dust-brushes, etc., always return 
them to their places. 

9. Be ambitious to have every part of our school in so 
neat and orderly a condition, that visitors may be favorably 
impressed with this trait of our character. 

SECTION E. SCnOLARSniP. 

Motto. — 'Knowledge is power.' 

Kejiark. Three things should ever be sought for by the 
scholar in all his studies and recitations. They are the index 
of scholarship. 

I. Aim at perfection. 
II. Recite promptly. 
III. Express your TnouGUTS clearly and fully. 

1. Let the tone of voice be distinctly audible and perfectly 
articulated. Let your words be chosen with care, so as to 
express your thoughts precisely. 

2. Resolve to solve every difficult point in your lesson 
yourself, (if possible,) rather than receive assistance from 
another. 



MANAGEMENT OF THE SCHOOL-ROOM. 123 

3. Have studies enough to employ all the time you can 
devote to school duties. 

4. Scholars are in no case to assist each other about their 
lessons, in study hours, except by permission, for very special 
reasons. 

5. Set apart a specified time for learning every lesson, and 
faithfully improve it. 

6. Learn every lesson as if you meant to remember it 
always, and not as many do, merely till recitation is over. 

7. Learn your lesson as long beforehand as possible. You 
will remember it all the better, especially if you review it just 
before recitation. 

8. Do not rest satisfied with learning your lesson so as to 
* guess ' you can say it ; be able to give a clear and full 
account of it when you recite. 

9. What are the three important characteristics of a perfect 
recitation ? Kepeat them. 

SECTION F. RECITATIONS. 

Remark. The object of the recitation is, that the teacher 
may have an opportunity to ascertain what part of the lesson 
the pupil has, or has not learned, that he may be able to ex- 
plain to him what he may not have been able to master alone. 
Therefore, 

1. Give the strictest attention to the instructions of the 
teacher, and the recitation of each pupil, during the recita- 
tion, s, 

2. Kesolve that you will answer every question your teach- 
er may ask you, at each recitation. 

3. Observe carefully every question which the teacher asks 
the other scholars of the class, and see \iyou can think of the 
proper answer hefore it is given by them. 



124 MR. parish's lecture. 

4. Never interrupt a teacher, or a scbolar, while lie is 
speaking. Never speak in the class, except when permitted 
or required by the teacher. Always speak to the teacher^ if 
you speak at all. Never contradict or dispute. 

5. Assume a becoming position of the body during recita- 
tion ; sit upright, — let both feet rest on the floor, and if there 
is no use for books, &c., let the hands be folded. 

6. Resolve at the beginning of each day, that your recita- 
tions/or that day shall ha perfect. (See Section E, Nos. 6 
and 8) 

7. A scholar must never stay out of recitation, because he 
' has no lesson.^ If you have a good excuse, give it to your 
teacher, and go and hear the others recite. 

8. A scholar must never have any thing in his hands dur- 
ing recitation, nor during study hours, except what strictly 
belongs to the exercise in which he is engaged. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

1. All communications xoith the scholars are to be avoided 
during the hours of study and recitation. This comprehends 
whispering, — writing notes, or on the slate, — signs, &c. 
Every pupil should study as if there were no one else near, 
or in the room, with perfect silence. 

2. x\sk questions about lessons of teachers to whom you 
recite ; as they are responsible for your improvement ; — 
otherwise some may be overburdened with business which 
properly belongs to another. 

3. No books are to be read in school hours, except such as 
belong to the studies and exercises of the school. 

4. Never mark or deface books, &c , with pen, pencil, &c. 

5. No scholar should go off the school grounds during re- 
cess, except with permission. 



MANAGEMENT OF THE SCHOOL-EOOM. 125 

6. Never meddle with tlie desk or property of another 
scholar, without liberty. 

7. Caps, bonnets, and all out^r garments must be placed 
on the hook assigned to each pupil, immediately on entering 
school. 

8. Boys must never wear caps or hats in the school-room." 

Any other directions may be inserted under the last 
head that the conditions of the school require. Only a 
few have been selected from the manual, to illustrate 
the mode of fixing requirements before the eye of the 
pupil, in the easiest and most effectual manner. 

From the foregoing extracts, may be learned the 
character and spirit of the little guide hooh which is 
placed in the hands of my pupils, or from which por- 
tions are occasionally read to the school, accompanied 
by such remarks as circumstances seem to require. It 
will appear obvious to every one, that it is nothing 
more than a collection of proprieties and {mpr92:)rieties, 
embracing the essential parts of all duties to be per- 
formed, and errors to be avoided in school. 

But the question may arise in the minds of some, in- 
asmuch as no penalty is annexed for disregarding the 
precepts thus presented, " How may any special benefit 
be expected from them ? " In reply to this question, a 
few of the advantages which experience has tested, may 
be briefly stated. 

1. From this " manual," every scholar on entering 
school may be made acquainted with the teacher's 
standard, or the particular character which, in his 
view, a school should assume. No individual can well 



126 MR. parish's lecture. 

avoid perceiving, that lie or sJie^ as well as tlie teaclier, 
lias something to do in giving it that character. Every 
precept may be considered as binding on the piipil, — 
requiring as strict observance, as if specific penalties 
were annexed to each ; with this advantage, that it 
allows the teacher, in practice, all the latitude he may 
choose to take in applying them, under various cir- 
cumstances, to difierent individuals. Whilst they should, 
and usually do commend themselves to the conscience 
of every reasonable pupil with the force of laiv^ — yet if 
there are exceptions, they may with quite as much pro- 
priety attach the authority and penalty of law to any 
one, or more of them, for a special occasion, as if the 
same had been uttered verhally for the same object. 

2. It serves well to indoctrinate a new pupil into the 
requirements and customs of the school. When a new 
scholar is admitted into the school, few teachers have 
sufficient leisure to sit down and impart all the informa- 
tion the pupil should possess, in order to commence ad- 
vantageously both to himself and the school. But let 
him spend the first half day with the foregoing little 
cliart before him, at the same time observing, as far as 
he can, the operations of the school-room, and he will 
not long be at a loss to know how to set his sails, and 
direct bis course for the " exploring voyage " on which 
he is about to embark. 

3. It saves many from censure and consequent dis- 
couragement who are really ignorant of their duty. It 
is doubtless true, that multitudes in our schools are set 
down as ohstinately perverse and opposed to the author- 
ity of the school, whose principal sin is that of igno- 



MANAGEMENT OF THE SCHOOL-ROOM. 127 

ranee. Let this code be the first lesson for that scholar 
to learn who seems not to know his place or duty ; and 
if after that he is found a transgressor, then it may be 
said with better reason, that he who knew his master's 
will, but did it not, " shall be beaten with many stripes." 
(Luke 12: 4T, 48.) 

Repetition of requirements is always found necessary 
by every teacher, with the dull or careless pupil. Let 
such be required to read often, or, if necessary, commit 
to memory what pertains to his case, and it will prove 
a more elFective stimulus than those vocal repetitions, 
"which sometimes obtain the appellation of scolding. 

4. It takes from the transgressor all excuse for 
wrong-doing ; — renders him a more conspicuous vio- 
lator of right, and calls down upon himself a more 
general voice of condemnation, because he sins against 
greater light. 

5. It preserves uniform practice in the general opera- 
tions of the school. 

There are two objections which conscientious and 
able teachers sometimes urge against everything in the 
form of written directions, or regulations in the school- 
room. " First it seems to multiply, unnecessarily, the 
number of requirements in the government of the school, 
and the pupil unable to retain ajl in mind, is apt to dis- 
regard the whole." Some teachers go so far as to say* 
" I have but one rule for my scholars to observe, and 
that is, ' Do right always.' " And yet are they not 
compelled to decide continually for the pupil as to what 
is right, or correct his errors of judgment or will ? 
Would not the same objection be valid against the moral 



128 MR. parish's lecture. 

precepts of the Bible, or statute laws in society at 
lar<T^e ? Inasmuch as children are more iofnorant and 
inexperienced, — have less inducement to acquire what 
is riglit than what is desirable on their part, it would 
seem reasonable to suppose that the more minutely, 
clearly, and permanently their obligations were presented 
to them, the better. 

A second objection is,' that " i^ivritten requirements, 
constantly before the eye, are often violated with im- 
punity, all requirements will soon become a dead letter, 
and government will be thereby weakened." If pre- 
cepts are suffered to be violated often with impunity in 
any school, whether written or oral, it may be safely 
concluded that there is little government or authority 
there to be weakened. There is reasonable ground for 
objection against written prohibitions and requirements 
where a definite penalty \s, annexed to them, inasmuch as 
it leaves the teacher no discretion in the case. It is, in 
my opinion, seldom expedient to declare beforehand, 
u'Jiat punishment shall follow any transgression in school 
government ; and what is objectionable in written regu- 
lations, would be equally so in oral. The wiser course 
undoubtedly is, to impress on the mind of the pupil in 
the clearest, most indelible manner possible, the true 
moral character of right and ivrong by the best means 
within the teacher's power, without regard to any pen- 
alty, till occasion shall demand one, and then let the 
teacher act as circumstances require. 

Having placed in the hands of the pupil the general 
outline of his duties, as a measure to prevent his falling 
into errors, from which it would cost the teacher per- 



MANAGEMENT OF THE SCHOOL-ROOM. 129 

plexitj and labor to withdraw him, a series of preve^itive 
measures maj be adopted which will tend to strengthen 
his authority by the cooperation of his pupils. The 
present occasion will allow me to do but little more than 
name some of them. 

Among the influences without the school-room, per- 
haps no one is so important and effective as occasional 
calls upon the parents of the children, not forgetting to 
recognize the children as your younger friends. Have 
you a perverse, rebeUious pupil to deal with ? It is 
absolutely necessary for the teacher to know the views 
and feelings of the parents, and that they know his 
likewise. Where all the circumstances of the case are 
understood between the parties, and cooperation can 
be obtained between parents and teacher, any serious 
difficulty with a pupil can hardly be expected. If the 
parents are even inefficient or worthless, the teacher 
will labor much more advantageously by knowing the 
exact influence he has to contend with at home, as well 
as at school. But if they are of the right stamp, and 
sympathize with him, he will feel their favorable influ- 
ence and support from the beginning of each day's 
labor to its close. This is a field which teachers are 
too prone to neglect, but which, if cultivated, will yield 
an abundant harvest. 

Much might be said of the favorable influence of a 
ivell-selected and iv ell- conducted library in a school. 
The latter is of but little less importance than the former. 
The weekly return and drawing of books, the pleasant 
excitement from the business-like manner in which the 

drawing should be conducted, in addition to the pleasure 

7 



130 MR. parish's lecture. 

derived from reading interesting books, may be made 
greatly to enhance the agreeable associations -which 
always cluster around a well-managed school. 

Many teachers have a happy mode of seizing on the 
best opportunity for relating interesting facts, or an 
anecdote accompanied with a good moral, or an in- 
structive story. A free conversation respecting promi- 
nent passing events in the place, serves to bring all 
minds to contemplate a single object for a few minutes, 
when they can be easily diverted, at once, to the appro- 
priate duties of the school. The following, which 
occurred sometime since, may be taken by way of illus- 
tration. In the midst of a little uneasiness and dis- 
traction of the school, the teacher suddenly says : 
" The scholars may suspend their studies, — I wish to 
ask a question. I am told that about two hours before 
school this morning, the scaffolding on a large brick 
building, up the street, fell, and badly injured, or killed 
several workmen. Can any one tell me the truth of 
the report ? " Fifteen or tw^enty hands are raised in 
different parts of the room. " John, what did you learn 
about it ? " " There were five men on the scaffold ; 
three were killed, and two almost killed." A general 
sensation is manifest through the school. " Thomas, 
what do you hear ? " " There was only one man killed, 
three were badly hurt, and one was not injured at all." 
"VYilliam says, " The man is not dead yet, and the rest 
are not hurt very badly." In this manner, many have 
an opportunity to tell what they know of the event, — 
the minds of the pupils are drawn off from the objects 
which were producing confusion,-— the teacher adds a 



MANAGEMENT OF THE SCHOOL-ROOM. 131 

word on the evils of exaggerating exciting reports, or 
attempting to tell what one does not know ; also urges 
the necessity of observing caution when necessarily ex- 
posed in dangerous circumstances, — and then diverts 
the attention of all to their duties, after which, the usual 
quiet and order succeed. The whole need not occupy 
more than five or six minutes. Every movement of 
this kind, however, must be managed with judgment 
and skill, or it should not be attempted. 

The simple process of suspending all exercises, and 
obtaining perfect stillness for a single minute^ so that a 
clock or watch may be heard to tick, frequently operates 
like a charm. Most scholars have Httle idea of a still 
school-room, till they learn it by some such experiment ; 
nor of the noise they make, except by contrast. 

The tranquilhzing, refining influence of vocal music 
has too long been known and practised to need recom- 
mending. In no place does the cheerful song fall more 
gratefully upon the ear, than in commencing or closing 
the duties of the day, or occasionally breaking out in 
the midst of the busy scenes of the school-room. The 
most perfectly ordered school, without this, lacks an 
essential ingredient. It is like the beautiful rose, with- 
out its fragrance. 

" By music, minds an equal temper know, 
Nor swell too high, nor sink too low : 
If in the breast tumultuous joys arise, 
Music her soft persuasive voice applies 5 
Or when the soul is press'd with cares, 
Exalts her in enlivening airs." — Pope's Celia. 



132 MR. parish's lecture. 

The active, skilful teacher, will add similar devices for 
giving variety to the exercises of his " mansion," ac- 
cording to the interest he feels in the subject, and the 
versatility of his genius. 

One other topic demands a brief notice, and these 
remarks shall be brought to a close. What shall be the 
mode of treating the transgressor, -whom all modes of 
prevention have failed to reach ? 

If the circumstances of his case render it expedient to 
retain him, still in his incorrigible state, a member of the 
school, it is obvious that he must be prevented from ex- 
ercising a deleterious influence on others ; and, if possi- 
ble, should be required to yield a cheerful obedience to 
the constituted authority of the school. The former 
may be partially effected by cutting him off, for a time, 
from all intercourse with his companions ; the latter 
■will require a process adapted to the peculiar nature of 
the case. 

Before you stands the offender, a being in whose 
young bosom are implanted the elements of reason and 
immortality. But another element has been at work, 
which, if suffered to gain the ascendency, may convert 
him into an enemy to his own best interests, — an enemy 
to his race. In what the teacher accomplishes towards 
removing the evil principles that reign within, and 
supplying that which is benevolent and good, he has a 
deep interest, although not willing to admit it ; every 
member of society with whom he may come in contact, 
or over whom he might exert an influence, has a deep 
interest. 



MANAGEMENT OF THE SCHOOL-ROOM. 138 

To Operate through the medium of reason^ would 
seem to be the more appropriate mode of correcting 
obhquity of miyid and will. Let reason be used, by all 
means, to its fullest extent. But cool reason and hot 
'passion very seldom unite, and form a perfect union, 
■without the intervention of a third ingredient. 

I shall not here discuss the merits or demerits of the 
diiferent modes of inflicting punishment upon the offen- 
der. Moral suasion will answer its end, where there is 
moral principle to act upon, hut is altogether inefficient 
without it. When sensibility is exiled from the mind 
and heart, occasion will render it expedient, — even 
necessary, sometimes, — to restore it by external appli- 
cations, — or, to borrow a medical term, — by counter 
irritants. But the time and manner of performing this 
delicate operation is a matter of the utmost importance. 

Corporal punishment can never be successfully in- 
flicted in the heat of passion, on the part of the teacher, 
nor on the part of the pupil, unless a sense of justice of 
the punishment, and of its necessity, likewise, pervade his 
mind, — circumstances not likely to occur. He must 
be conscious that the teacher has taken every reason- 
able precaution to prevent him from wrong-doing ; and 
that the punishment to be inflicted is really the last re- 
sort, after the failure of other resources. 

The time and place of inflicting punishment are 
worthy of consideration. You may perform an opera- 
tion on material substances hastily, with success ; but 
to move the passions aright, — to convince the reason, — 
to convert the disaffected, is not often the work of a 

moment. It is evident, then, that the hours which 
7* 



134 MR. parish's lecture. 

should be devoted to instruction^ ought to be used as 
little as possible, for the imnishment of transgressors. 
Your object is to produce in the offender a full con- 
sciousness of his error, — to bring him from a state of 
opposition to you and your authority, — to cooperate 
with you in behalf of the general interests of the school, 
and that with a cordial^ cheerful good-ivill. The thing 
cannot be done, — if the case be at all serious, and it does 
not demand punishment if not, — without deliberation ; 
seldom can it be done without much reasoning and illus- 
tration that it is the only wise course for the pupil. 
Indeed, my experience leads me daily, more and more, to 
call the attention of the transgressor to his infraction o^ 
duty in the mildest and most quiet manner : make a mem- 
orandum of it, and have a private interview with him as 
soon as opportunity will admit ; especially in cases requir- 
ing reproof or punishment. The consequence is very 
apparent, even with those who have been reckless trans- 
gressors ; that they dread the slightest indication of 
censure, when it is uncommon for any to receive it, 
much more than formerly, when it was so common that 
almost all, the comparatively good, as well as the vicious, 
expected a share, and took it as a matter of course. It 
dries up the fountain of scolding. 

Another essential point should not be overlooked. 
Corporal punishment should seldom be inflicted in the 
presence of others. The pupil punished is not made 
better by it. If he has a spirit that could be mortified 
and crushed by being thus exposed, he would easily be 
brought to terms in private^ — would respect and love 
you more afterwards, and be more effectually benefited. 



MANAGEMENT OF THE SCHOOL-ROOM. 135 

A proud and haughty spirit cannot be punished before 
witnesses, as successfully even as the other. If in the 
presence of good scholars only, it might be a bare pos- 
sibility that his regard for their opinion, if he knew it 
was against him, might induce him to yield submission. 
But if before others like himself, he will be more likely 
to prize the opportunity of appearing before them as a 
stoic or a martyr. Under the latter influence, he will 
not be likely to listen to reason^ nor will he exhibit the 
renovating influence of punishment, if it be in his power 
to avoid it. 

On the other hand, take the transgressor alone, — 
address him with mildness, as a friend ; show him his 
error in all kindness, but clearly and fully ; proffer him 
your favor and friendship when he will do right ; make 
him understand the consequences and folly of wrong- 
doing ; punish him, — severely if the case require it, 
and in such a manner that he must perceive that you 
are master both of him and yourself; and be assured, 
he will not willingly be found many times in the same 
situation. 

Another consideration should be kept in view. Good, 
obedient scholars, if made witnesses of punishment, are 
not, to say the least, likely to be made better by it : 
it may create in them a diminished esteem for the 
executioner^ or master. In sacrificing their sympathy, 
he loses ground which it will be hard for him to regain. 
Vicious scholars will inevitably sympathize with the 
criminal, with whom they will combine ; on whose 
behalf they feel some obligation to retaliate, if they 



136 MR. parish's lecture. 

cannot protect him. They will appreciate the jt^am he 
suffers far better than the guilt for which he suffers. 

In fine, the school-room should be sacredly devoted 
to its appropriate use, viz., the cultivation of the in- 
tellect, and the better feelings of the heart. As far as 
possible, all circumstances tending to give it a forbidding 
aspect to the pupils, or which maj leave repulsive asso- 
ciations on the mind, should be studiously avoided. 
Approve and encourage publicly ; censure and punish 
privately. 

With respect to the " vexed question" of corporal 
punishment, after many years' experience, in almost 
every grade and character of schools, I am free to ex- 
press it as my opinion, that there are schools in which 
the character of the scholars is such that it can be en- 
tirely dispensed with ; that in every school there will be 
periods, longer or shorter, when it will be entirely un- 
necessary ; and these periods will be followed by others, 
when no equivalent or substitute will be within the 
teacher's reach. Its use should be avoided in all cases 
until all other reasonable means have been appealed to 
in vain ; and when used, it must be employed with care 
and judgment, in order to produce a favorable result. 
Much caution is necessary on the part of teachers, lest 
they substitute something else far more objectionable. 
Finally, that it can be banished entirely from a discre- 
tionary use, advantageously or safely, is an idea utterly 
Utopian, whilst the nature and habits of the mass of 
scholars remain in their present condition. With the 
sentiment of the able editor of the Massachusetts Com- 
mon School Journal I fully concur : " We ahlior cor- 



MANAGEMENT OF THE SCHOOL-ROOM. 1^7 

]poral punishment, hut we abhor the halter and the State 
prison more ; and in the present state of society, it is 
our belief, that if the first he not sometimes used, the 
latter must 5^." 

In submitting the foregoing principles and views, it 
may be proper to add, that, however well they may 
have succeeded in the experience of a single individual, 
it must not be inferred that the adoption of the same 
under all circumstances would infallibly insure success 
in their application. If in a school of one hundred to 
one hundred and fifty scholars, of ten years of age and 
above, they have satisfactorily answered their purpose, 
it is evident that important modifications would be ne- 
cessary for a primary school in which the children 
should be under eight years of age. In an academy 
or private school, consisting of young ladies and gentle- 
men, w^ho feel that their reputation for decorum is 
worth preserving, and value their opportunity for ob- 
taining an education, many of the particulars dwelt on 
would be entirely useless. There is, however, reason 
for the belief, that the principles herein presented, and 
many modes of action suggested, are applicable to the 
mass of public schools scattered over the hills and 
through the valleys of New England ; and with diffi- 
dence have they been presented, with the humble hope 
that they may be instrumental in rendering some ser- 
vice to the teacher engaged in his toilsome employment, 
and may contribute, though in a small degree, to second 
the efforts of those who are devoted to difi'using educa- 
tion and its blessings universally among mankind. 



LECTURE IT. 

THOROUGH INSTRUCTION. 

BY JOSEPH HALE. 

Ever J thing, and especially ^vhat is good, has its 
mock representative. Falsehood assumes the air of 
truth. Selfishness puts on the mask of philanthropy. 
Vice affects the purity, and wears the aspect of virtue. 

" For neltlier man nor angel can discern 
Hypocrisy, the only evil that walks 
Invisible, except to God alone, 
By his permissive will, through heaven and earth ; 
And oft, though wisdom wake, suspicion sleeps 
At wisdom's gate, and to simplicity 
Resigns her charge, while goodness thinks no ill 
Where no ill seems." 

And is it strange, then, that ignorance should sometimes 
take the form of knowledge ? Indeed, everywhere we 
have the real and the apparent, the substance and the 
shadow ; and their ratio is perhaps as often inverse as 
direct. Paradoxical as it may sound, the seeming 
presence of a thing is not unfrequently the best evi- 
dence we can have of its real absence. This truth is 
well illustrated by the opposite effects of thorough and 



140 MR. hale's lecture. 

superficial t:acliing, tlie former accomplishing great 
results ^'ith but little show, the latter making great 
display with small results. 

" Thought, " says Goethe, " expands, but lames ; 
action animates, but narrows. " The soundness of 
Goethe's proposition is plain upon shght reflection. 
To illustrate it, suppose you present to the learner's 
mind a simple truth, easy to be seen, or a mere process 
to be followed, and require repeated and long-continued 
attention to it, till it becomes famiUar. The mind being 
confined within a limited range, becomes expert there ; 
but it is indebted for that expertness, in a great measure, 
to the very narrowness of its scope. On the other 
hand, present to the same mind a less obvious thought, 
one of so complex and comprehensive a nature, that it 
of necessity awakens a train of unwonted apprehensions 
and emotions, that absorb all the faculties, and demand 
time for consideration and reflection. You have led 
your pupil by an expansive grasp to seize upon a region 
of thought where all is strange and new ; the scene for 
a while bewilders him ; he is of course abstracted, past 
utterance ; he is thinking and preparing to speak, awk- 
ward and not ready for action ; like a cat in a strange 
garret, timid and cautious at first, but looking inquisi" 
tively about, and learning very fast ; he is really work- 
ing so hard that he cannot stop to tell you what he is 
doing, whilst to the superficial observer who looks con- 
tinually for external results, he seems, for this very 
reason, to be doing nothing, — stupid and devoid of 
sense. Give him time to explore the realms you have 
introduced him to, and he will expound to you their 



THOROUGH INSTRUCTION. 141 

wonders ; remember, however, that the less he sees, the 
sooner he will return with his report ; and the more 
cursorily he observes, the more easily will he describe. 
The pupil who can promptly tell all that he thinks, must 
necessarily think but little, and that quite near the sur- 
face. Close examination leads to intricacy of thought, 
and complex thoughts must, of necessity, be difficult 
of expression ; for thought lames while it expands, and 
action narroivs while it animates. 

This sentiment contains a world of wisdom, and is 
worthy the serious consideration of every teacher. It 
is, however, a severe, but just and needed criticism upon 
school-room volubility, and condemns at once the method 
of displaying, before the public, imperfectly detailed sta- 
tistics of the merits of the schools, the inevitable tendency 
of which must finally be, to encourage action for the 
sake of the animation that makes it available for show, 
even at the expense of the narrowness that attends it ; 
and to banish thought, with all its expansive power, 
rather than risk the chance of appearing before the hur- 
ried, and therefore superficial, glance of the multitude, 
under that awkward attitude of lameness which it occa- 
sions, a lameness that all, even the most hasty observ- 
ers, will see, whilst but few will stop to make due allow- 
ance for it. 

Since, then, action and thought have such opposite 
effects upon the mind, it becomes an important ques- 
tion which of the two should be the leading object in 
education. Each, of course, includes, to some extent, 
fhe other ; but which should predominate ? And by the 
term education I mean general, elementary, universal, 



142 MR. bale's lecture. 

and not particular, specific, teclinical, professional edu- 
cation. 

It seems to me, then, to be emphatically the province 
of education to stimulate and develop thought ; that of 
business, to quicken and faciHtate action. Education, 
in the sense in which I use it, while considering no par- 
ticular action, is to prepare for all action. Education 
is the deliberation which precedes ; business is the 
action which follows. The former, governs ; the latter, 
obeys. The former deals with principles ; the latter, 
with facts. " Think before you speak," is as important 
a maxim in education, as " Look before you leap" is, 
in business. 

Thorough instruction may be regarded as depending 
upon thorough teaching and thorough discipline ; se- 
lecting, arranging and presenting subjects befitting the 
condition of the learner's mind and the occasion, and 
then demandino; and securino; his attention to them. 
By thorough teaching, I mean, actually to excite in the 
mind of the pupil clear ideas of the subject taught, so 
far as it is susceptible of them, as distinguished from 
the presentation to the memory of the mere verbal 
forms of these ideas. 

" Words are like leaves, and wliere they most abound, 
Much fruit of sense beneath is rarely found." 

Language is not, necessarily, evidence of thought in 
the mind of the person using it, any more than the signs 
of language are evidence of thought in the book upon 
whose pages they are impressed ; in both cases it is but 
the representative of thought, and, in itself, whether 
written or spoken, should be regarded only as a medium 



THOROUGH INSTRUCTION. 143 

for convejiiig ideas from mind to mind, and not as the 
ideas themselves ; and it should be remembered that 
the organs of articulation, under the guidance of the 
faculty of imitation, not only in a child, but even in a 
parrot, may exhibit this medium, independently of the 
necessity of comprehending the thought conveyed. 

Now every body knows this, and yet how much la- 
borious effort has been expended of late years, to effect 
skill in mere utterance, as if sound and sense were not 
only inseparable, but absolutely identical. How often 
has it been the boast of a teacher, and the glory of a 
school, that each pupil in every class could recite, and 
therefore was a scholar. All must Bay it over ; they 
must at least get the words. The committee will expect 
it ; the public will expect it. Surely the book must be 
taught, whether the subject is or not. Thus all pupils 
are made to appear so much alike, that it is difficult to 
distinguish those who really know from those who do 
not ; and even those who know the least, may, by a 
lucky accident, appear the best. Now to furnish an 
ambitious pupil of quick memory, with an abundance of 
formal propositions, not understood by him, but to be 
used as if they were, and to expect him from such a 
treatment to become thoughtful, and to rely upon his 
own understanding, is like filling the pockets of an idle 
spendthrift with counterfeit money, to induce him to 
become industrious in earning that which is genuine. 
Indeed, the former is subject to a temptation to which 
the latter is not ; since the latter knows that the bills 
never can become genuine, and, therefore, his conscience 
will always object to his using them ; whilst the former 



144 MR. bale's lecture. 

knows that precisely the same words which he now 
uses are genuine coin in the mouths of others, who un- 
derstand them, and will be genuine with him when he 
shall understand them. His recitations sound to him- 
self like others that are well received, and, as he has 
no consciousness of the thought that gives life to intel- 
ligent recitation, he may not know what is wanting. 
We often see this in the difficulty that such pupils find 
in discovering the difference between two opposite state- 
ments, which sound very much alike. Take, for in- 
stance, the first two propositions in the chapter on vul- 
gar fractions, in Emerson's Arithmetic, Part III ; and 
also the rules for multiplying a fraction by a whole 
number, and a whole number by a fraction ; and again, 
the rules for dividing a fraction by a whole number, and 
a whole number by a fraction. I have had pupils 
tell me, how hard they had labored to commit them to 
memory, and without success, because they were so much 
alike, that they could not keep them distinct ; and to 
the verbal memory they are almost identical, the differ- 
ence being only in a word or two; yet, to the under- 
standing, they are diametrically opposite. 

The attainment of the forms of knowledge without 
the knowledge itself, so far from being desirable, is. in 
reference to mental development, decidedly objection- 
able. These forms are not merely valueless, they are 
a minus quantity ; it will cost something to get rid of 
them. We make no effort to obtain wha-t we think we 
already have. A consciousness of our ignorance is the 
first step towards knowledge. 

It follows, then, that skill to teach the book without 



THOROUGH INSTRUCTION. 145 

the subject, the form without the substance, so far from 
being a recommendation in a teacher, is proof positive 
of his inability to teach the latter at all. This is as 
undeniable a proposition, as that a tendency to incul- 
cate the undue importance of outward courtesies, is un- 
favorable to sincerity, or that the ability to avow, in 
order to suit circumstances, sentiments that are known 
to be foreign to one's mind, inevitably encourages de- 
ception in all who notice it. A formalist, by his very 
nature, undervalues essence, else he would not be a 
formalist. Is he polite ? it is for his own credit, rather 
than for the sake of the feelings of others. Is he ben- 
evolent ? the world must know it, for he pretends to 
think much of his example, and wishes others to do good 
also. As to virtue, he takes special care that whatever 
may be thought of him in private, no one shall dare 
publicly to question his morality. Such a man is satis- 
fied that people speah well of him ; the»ir secret convic- 
tions he is not anxious to have known. As a teacher, he 
is sure to show what he does ; he feels it to bo his duty 
to satisfy present expectations ; he has a profound re- 
spect for public opinion ; at any rate, he has a great 
regard for it. He is all things to all men, if by all means 
he may save — himself. The importance of the pres- 
ent is so predominant in his mind, that he naturally 
thinks, and is quite willing to think, that that is best 
for people which they like best. He therefore furnishes 
large crops of words with little Ifibor. 

This tact for making pupils seem to knoAV what they 
are ignorant of, works most smoothly with those pupils 
who have the least depth of thought, who are inclined 



146 MR. bale's lecture. 

to rely upon their memory and excuse their judgment, 
because it suits them best ; yet, it is really worse for 
them than for others, because, having less inclination 
to thought, they need more incentives to it. By making 
the memory do the office of the judgment in such minds, 
we strengthen what is already too strong, and weaken 
what is weak. Yet such has been the popular mode of 
teaching, of late years. All must learn every thing ; 
every body is an orator, a poet, a painter, a mathema- 
tician. The whole school go together in all things ; at 
least, such seems to be the case. All learn to recite 
the rules of all the sciences, physical, moral, and exact. 
All write composition early ; they learn to express pro- 
found thoughts in season, so that if any should chance 
to come along they may have a wardrobe ready for 
them. 

Now, what does this desecration of all science prove, 
if not limited, mercenary, and narrow views, in those 
who encourage it ? AYhat can be the effect of it, but 
to keep down science, properly so called, at a low level, 
in order to make merchandise of wculd-he science, by 
giving it, under the name of science, a wider circula- 
tion ? The progress of real knowledge among the peo- 
ple, is a noble object ; but to pursue systematically a 
course of instruction calculated to encourage vain pre- 
tensions to it, will ultimately check the development 
of, and lessen the demand for, the reality, just as much 
as it will increase, and give currency to, the semblance. 

I said that skill to teach mere forms argued the 
want of capacity to teach the reality ; for how can it 
be, that one whose soul is pervaded with the true love 



THOROUGH INSTRUCTION. 147 

of knowledge, can, by anj possibility, commit such con- 
tinual outrage upon his own feelings, as to violate his 
devotion to truth, by substituting the veriest husks of 
knowledge for knowledge itself, and drilling his pupils, 
as if they were mere automatons, into the use of what 
to them are only dead and spiritless forms. Circum- 
stances may compel to it, perhaps, to some extent. But 
I would seriously ask, have we not, of late years, by 
our plans of teaching, by our appeals to the judgment 
of the popular mind, and the consequent effort to exhibit 
our results to all, by the multiplicity of studies, and the 
arrangement of text-books to suit these designs, been 
gradually and rapidly running into the' condition of 
things to which we have alluded. Do not the public 
look for a degree of maturity in children that is incom- 
patible with their years ? and do they not, in perfect 
harmony with this idea of their progress, withhold from 
them, both in families and schools, those influences 
which, as children, they need, that they may at length 
become men ? If w^e allow premature manhood to usurp 
the place of childhood, will not imbecile, untutored, 
and ungovernable childhood be found to occupy the 
place of manhood ? If children are encouraged to think 
themselves men, when they ought to be boys, will they 
not, in turn, find themselves to be but boys, when 
they ought to be men ? Nature will not be cheated. 
The laws of culture and development cannot be contra- 
vened ; however it may be with quantity, certain it is, 
that the quality of fruit must depend not only upon the 
seed and soil, but also upon time and opportunity for 
growth. 



148 MR. bale's lecture. 

Since, then, we demand, now-a-dajs, so much of chil- 
dren, since tl ej must be led through all science and all 
knowledge at an early age, we must devise means 
to carry out our plan. But they cannot be taught 
orally ; still less can they by intuition become imbued 
with omniscience, and give, as from inspiration, a reason 
for the hope of truth that is in them. We must give 
them books. Still holding fast the false position that 
they are capable of knowing, we fancy that books only 
are wanting to secure the attainment of this knowledge. 

Give me a place to stand upon, said the ancient 
mathematician, and I will move the world. Give me 
text-books and systems, says the modern recitationist, 
give me the formulas of knowledge and thought upon all 
subjects, and I will construct an easy road, — an in- 
clined plane, — by which to raise all human intellect to 
the summit of the hill of science. 

" Then, -wlio can tell how easy 'twere to climb 
The steep where fame's proud temple shines afar ? " 

Yes, forsooth, up such a steep might seem to glide not 
only the gifted with intellect, the patient and persever- 
ing, but, with equal pace, the stupid and imbecile, the 
thoughtless and inattentive. It was no boast with 
Archimedes ; for, could his conditions have been complied 
with, the promise might have been accomplished ; since 
matter is moved by what is without, and foreign to it. 
But the latter cannot fulfil his plan, even granting his 
conditions ; since mind is really moved only by what 
is within it, that is, by what it receives and digests ; the 
motion results from the vital agency of the thing moved. 



THOROUGH INSTRUCTION. 149 

Such are tlie boasted schemes of those who fancy 
thej can make such easy work of teaching, and can fit 
minds for usefulness, without subjecting them to that 
labor and discipline which are necessary to strengthen 
and develop their powers. 

The deep and inwrought effect of teaching upon the 
mind is all that deserves the name of education. All 
else is the mere semblance of it ; it is the awakening 
of thought, the exercise of the power of discrimination, 
that tests the skill of the teacher, and promotes intel- 
lectual growth in the pupil. True it is, that judgment 
must be used in furnishing nourishment to youthful 
minds. We must not fatigue them by presenting sub- 
jects beyond their powers. But there is an opposite 
extreme to be avoided. 

The judicious teacher, taking good care not to aim at 
premature development of the higher faculties by keep- 
ing too much in advance of his pupils, must still be 
somewhat in advance of them. The one extreme has a 
tendency to discourage and break down by overtasking, 
the other, to weaken and obliterate the faculties by dis- 
use and inactivity. 

But the error against which I would guard, is the 
fruitless attempt to unite these two extremes, by com- 
promising the thought and giving the form ; in other 
words, by 'pretending to teach the subject, while we are 
merely lodging in the memory the verbal proposition 
which conveys the thought. I am aware that much 
must be addressed to the memory, and children must 
take upon trust many items of knowledge, the reasons 

of which may grow brighter in maturer life, for, besides 
8* 



150 MR. hale'b lecture. 

the value of mucli that can be stored up in this waj for 
future use, the cultivation of the memory, independently 
of the facts learned, is of itself an important part of 
education. But to make the training of the memory 
the prime object of education, and leave the reasoning 
powers to develop of themselves as age matures them, 
is a far greater mistake than "wholly to neglect the 
memory. The nobleness of teaching is vastly abated, 
"when we regard it as implying no higher duty than 
merely to dole out, page by page, to passive receivers, 
their semi-daily portion of intellectual food, to be packed 
away in the memory, and digested in future years. 

The duty of the teacher is not merely, nor mainly, to 
bring in long succession before the notice of his pupils 
the statements of truth, but, far beyond this, to satisfy 
himself that the truths themselves are becomins: incor- 
porated with their minds ; and to teach them to com- 
bine, and arrange, and apply these truths, and, still 
more, from them to form new and modified forms of 
truth, to suit the almost infinite variety of circumstances 
in which they may be called to act. 

" Hoc opus, hie labor est. " 



There is absolute necessity for eifort and study on the 
part of both pnpils and teacher ; he must well under- 
stand the subject which he teaches, that he may be 
able to adapt his illustrations to the peculiar wants of 
individuals ; points that are plain to some minds may 
be obscure to others, and he should aim at makino; him- 
self intelHgible, as far as possible, to all. 



THOROUGH INSTRUCTION. 151 

The first object of the teacher should be, to impart 
real instruction, rather than to bring about a formal 
recitation. When a subject is well understood, it may 
often be of great service to aid the learner in making 
up a form of words perfectly intelligible to him, in which 
to clothe his demonstration or rule. But it is seldom, 
if ever, advisable to encourage the use of language 
which conveys no definite idea to his mind ; and when- 
ever a method of doing any thing is shown, without the 
philosophical reasons, the pupil should understand that 
he is receiving upon trust, in order that he may always 
discriminate, if possible, between seeing with fiis own 
mind, and following the guidance of another mind. 

It must be remembered, moreover, that the first 
dawnings of thought on all subjects, and especially 
those of an intricate nature, are vague and undefinable. 
First beginnings are always obscure and feeble, and 
more so, the more advanced the character of the final 
product. The mushroom obtrudes itself upon notice at 
once, and yet, it is but a shadow when completed. 

In presenting abstract subjects, we can at first only 
excite indistinct images in the learner's mind, and it is 
not well to demand of him a clear statement in words, 
of what is misty in his mind ; nor must we think that 
no progress is made, till he can make a lucid statement 
intelligible to himself. This is evidence of the finished 
work ; but there are gradations between the first faint 
conception and the full comprehension, which the teacher 
may infer, and infer with a certainty sufficiently conclu- 
sive to his own mind, thouorh not demonstrable ; it is 



152 MR. bale's lecture. 

dangerous, to say the least, to encourage the habit of 
expressing fully TN'hat is not fully understood. 

If it be said that the business of the teacher is, to 
drill his pupil into the habit of expressing his knowledge 
to others, we admit that, in a certain sense, it is so. He 
is to aid him in expression, when he shall have any 
thing to express. But the expression of a process of 
development, if it be not an absurd idea, is surely not 
to be demanded of the pupil, to the public. The re. 
hearsal of the pupil is before the teacher ; he alone is 
competent, by his very relation to his pupil, to take cog- 
nizance of those developments which are hidden and im- 
portant ; and even he is obliged to infer intelligence 
from his pupil's past success, from his knowledge of his 
powers of mind, rather than from present evidence ; how 
often will he say, *' Wait a while, perhaps you'll under- 
stand." 

We err essentially in our efforts for development, by 
the faithless demand of external evidence, to prove the 
reality of internal operations. If we attempt to show 
all that we do, we are sure to do but little. The more 
we think of rendering all results taHgible and visible, 
the more superficial those results will be. Satisfactory 
evidence, indeed, w^e may always look for; but the 
nature of the evidence must vary with the nature 
of the subject. " Education," says one who always 
writes profoundly, " is a development, not a manufac- 
ture." Here is not only the true philosophy, but, when 
expanded, the whole philosophy. The manufacture of 
knowledge so common at the present day, is not e-duca- 
tion, but (to coin a word to suit the modern coinage of 



THOROUGH INSTRUCTION. 153 

thought) afZ-ducation ; it is the superinduction, the 
drawing on of the mere costume of thought, which not 
onlj cheats, but embarrasses the mind, and renders it 
merely receptive, and proportionally unproductive. 
Spontaneity, which is the soul of all growth, is checked 
and smothered, and the innate germs of thought, the 
native, indigenous products of the mind, are kept back 
and stinted by the encumbering presence of exotics, so 
that the mind exhibits every thing but itself, and be- 
comes really little just in proportion as it becomes ap- 
parently great ; the shadows of thought are its only 
realities, and all the substance it has, must, of neces- 
sity, be but a shadow. 

There are minds which have a singular predisposition 
to take foreign thoughts, that never were, nor can be, 
their own, and wear them upon the surface themselves, 
and traBfesfer them to others, their pupils, externally, 
not transfuse them, having no power to do this, even for 
their own use ; but slightly to attach them by the visi- 
ble ties of some accidental relations of association, whilst, 
in so doing, they not only fail to aid their learners in 
reproducing the thought, by giving them a philosophical 
and true arrangement, but actually hinder them from 
doing so, by encouraging the same imitative method of 
acquiring by the mere associative memory, which is 
their own never-failing means of attainment. They 
thus drill (for they can only drill) their pupils into well 
made, 'manufactured adepts in borrowed knowledge, 
walking scrap-books, substantially, wrapping paper, made 
interesting and useful only when hidden by the aid of 



154 MR. halb's lecture. 

pilfering scissors and adhesive paste. Such is mere 
memoriter lore. 

Yet the memory has its place in education, for 
the mind is a storehouse as well as a garden. The 
memory should be exercised, however, upon subjects 
which properly belong to it. It follows authority, and 
takes upon trust ; in such matters, therefore, it is the 
legitimate faculty (if it may be so called) to rely upon. 
Pacts, events, appearances, methods, forms, usages, the 
varieties of language, are acquired and retained by 
memory, to a great extent the memory of association, 
or mere verbal memory of sounds and sequences. But 
principles are to be tested by the understanding ; and 
though the memory and the understanding should work 
together, yet to attempt to make either do the office of 
the other, is not only fruitless, but positively injurious. 
It is as absurd to bring the unaided memory to learn a 
mathematical theorem, as to task the understanding to 
determine upon the authenticity of a fact. Facts are 
stubborn things, when once enacted, and as such memory 
records them. Principles are eternal truths, and as 
such the understanding alone recognizes them ; we do 
not remember and believe that they have been, but see 
and know that they are. 

A peculiar feature of the modern method of educating, 
is, to substitute drilling for teaching ; to secure a facility 
and readiness of action and expression, rather than 
soundness and accuracy of thought. It is the age of 
recitation in the school-room, more than of cogitation ; 
the movement age. There is more motion than can be 
explained ; more action than deliberation. It comes 



THOROUGH INSTRUCTION. 155 

from the world without. Everywhere people find it 
much more easy to go ahead, than to tell, or even think, 
where they are going. — The age of experiment. The 
great questions are " What ? " " Where ? " " When? " 
and " How ? " but never " Why ? " The school-room, 
too, has at length become a mart of fancy stocks. 
Many fortunes of popularity are made by the traffic 
in them : the last purchstser alone suffers, — the poor 
pupil, for whose good alone the whole trade is, profes- 
sedly, and should be, really, carried on. The age is 
so eminently practical, that expert and prompt action 
is made the great test of excellence in the school. 
Now the business of the school-room is not practical, 
but theoretical ; it is more to develop than to drill the 
faculties ; not so much to act with ease, as to prepare 
for action. Practical skill will come of itself to a well 
balanced and correctly judging mind ; it belongs to 
art more than to science ; it lies within a narrow com- 
pass, and follows, of course, from the frequent repeti- 
tion of a limited routine of transactions ; it is imita- 
tive, the result of that observation and experience 
which every one is compelled to have in regard to his 
peculiar calling. It is the business of the school-room, 
however, to take a wider and higher view of mind^ 
than to drill its faculties into a routine of action, where 
nothing is required but to repeat often a little^ as if 
smartness and despatch were the whole of excellence. 
Now this despatch, as I have before said, will regulate 
itself in a life of business. The great thing is a well 
disciplined mind, and to produce this result the efforts 
of the school-room are mainly due. The whole busi- 



156 MR. hale's lecture. 

ness of the scliool-room, as a series of real results, is 
totally valueless to tlie world. The teacher is scarcely 
connected with the age in which he is acting, when it 
is the fashion to act aright. It; is true that the teacher 
of this time is seriously related to his age, through the 
conspicuousness of those who should be his submissive 
charge ; but he is known abroad in virtue of what he 
has not done, or rather has not been allowed to do, 
more than by what he has done. Children have been 
made too conspicuous for their own good. They have 
been encouraged to think too much of their present 
importance, too httle of their coming responsibility. 
This false attitude into which they have been thrown, 
together with an increasing distrust in the benefit of 
restraints, and a strong confidence in the self-regulating 
and preserving tendency of the virtuous aifections, has 
been for many years producing, as we are now com- 
pelled to witness, a vast comparative increase in juve- 
nile crime. If boys are so rude and boisterous in 
their school-days, as to demand the special care of 
the police, what shall be done with them when 
.their unrestrained passions shall have attained the 
strensjth of manhood ! But I wish not here to discuss 
the importance of early and rigid restraints. I am 
more inclined to the opinion, that the experiment of 
juvenile perfectibility must be more fully carried out ; 
it belongs to the age, and must be tried on a large 
scale ; to predict its final failure, and runious conse- 
quences, as they have already begun to be developed, 
and will more fully be developed in the coming genera- 
tion, will not prevent its being tried. We can only 



THOROUGH INSTRUCTION. 157 

state our opinions, and leave people to receive or reject 
them according to their own judgment. Teachers can- 
not act irrespectively of the notions of the community. 
They have a large share in the formation of the char- 
acters of their pupils, but not the -whole. If they 
would always be true to the'best interests of their pro- 
fession, and, patiently bearing the evil consequences of 
prevaihng errors, without needless and wilful opposition, 
would, at the same time, forbear to fall in with, and 
strengthen, the current of false opinion, merely because 
it is popular opinion, they would avoid much harm ; 
one teacher can do more to propagate unsound doc- 
trines in regard to his profession, than a hundred who 
are not teachers. This is especially true at the present 
time, because, as I have said, it is emphatically an age 
in which every thing yields to practical experience ; 
every thing, excepting only that wild theorizing, which 
depends, and must ever depend, upon experiments 
that neither have been, nor can be, adequately tried. 
But I was saying that the results of the school-room 
were, in themselves, valueless, and that the relation of 
the teacher concerned, emphatically, the coming age. It 
is of great moment not to the present, but the coming age, 
that the influences of the school-room should be such as to 
develop sound thoughts, correct habits, truthful charac- 
ters ; that the most efficient means should be used to 
perfect, not immediately, but in due time, the best of 
humanity ; teachers should see to it that their pupils 
give promise of finally becoming true and good men, 
of the best mould and stature that their nature and cir- 
cumstances will admit, when their time comes ; having 



158 MR. bale's lecture. 

no ambition to manufacture manikins of wondrous rapid 
growth. Let teachers be patient as well as persevering. 
A good and true man is a noble product, and worth 
much waiting for. 

To teach thoroughly, we must have a thorough knowl- 
edge of our pupil. We cannot understand him by taking 
partial views of his character, and we cannot teach 
him to the best advantage unless we understand him. 
We cannot understand his heart, without knowing some- 
thing of his head, nor his head, without reference to 
his heart ; intellection and affection are so blended in 
the individual, that we cannot separate them ; indeed, 
a pupil may be so mathematical, that poetical feeling 
can come only through surds and roots ; or so much a 
poet, that his first approach to mathematics may be to 
count the feet and syllables for his verses. The teacher 
must avail himself of every means to find out all the 
faults and excellences, the strong and weak points of 
his pupil's character ; his temptations, his predilections, 
his difiicult and easy processes ; in short, he must study 
him symptomatically, as a faithful and discriminating 
physician does his patient ; to know what he is, what he 
may become, and what ought to be done for him. 

There is no substitute for an intimate, individual 
study of each pupil. However large may be his class, 
the teacher should well know each one of them. There 
must be an intimate and close intercourse between them, 
or his influence degenerates into formality. In large 
schools, where there is a (^vision of labor to save time, 
the system of exchange should be such as to isolate as 
much as possible each teacher's influences, and render 



THOROUaH INSTRUCTION. 159 

the teachers themselves, as far as possible, independent 
of each other. Subordinate teaching is exceedingly 
objectionable, because from its very nature there is a 
strong motive, nay, an almost imperative necessity, to 
be superficial. 

If a teacher feels that he must make his influences 
immediately apparent to some one whose duty it is to 
■watch for them, he is constantly induced to forego aim- 
ing at remote results, and to spend his whole time and 
strength in ephemeral efforts. One who needs watch- 
ing had better do any thing than teach ; and to throw 
away time, and trammel the action of others by watch- 
ing those vrho do not need it, is what no real teacher 
can long consent to do. Any one, to teach thoroughly, 
must teach for himself ; he must labor to impart him- 
self to his pupil. It is as true in mind and morals, as 
in physics, that like begets like ; and the teacher who is 
not in earnest to propagate his own opinions, is scarcely 
a teacher at all. To one who teaches merely to 'please 
others^ it matters little what he teaches, so he has his 
reward. Such persons generally have no fixed opinions, 
and, therefore^ cannot impart themselves. But the 
true man can be only himself, and, thereforCj can teach 
only what he believes and loves ; not that he is neces- 
sarily less selfish, but that he has a standard of opinions 
in his own consciousness, which he has not the power to 
violate ; whilst the former easily changes his notions to 
suit the varying notions of the day ; not only because 
it is more convenient so to do, but, it may be, of neces- 
sity, having no other standard to follow than what others 
think. 



160 MR. hai/e's lecture. 

In large schools, there must be a subordinate grade 
of teachers ; but this subordination should have refer- 
ence merely to the general arrangement, classification, 
and control of the whole school ; whilst each subordinate 
teacher should be independent in the control and instruc- 
tion of his own class ; — and there cannot be the most 
thorough teaching without this independence. Inter- 
ference will hardly make up for the deficiencies of those 
who need it, and cannot fail to embarrass and perplex 
those who do not. 

The relation of the teacher, then, that his influences 
may be healthful, deep, and lasting, being of so close 
and settled a character, it becomes a matter of great 
moment, that it be deliberately formed, and, when prop- 
erly established, permanently and steadily maintained. If 
it be asked, — Who is likely to make a thorough teacher ? 
perhaps as safe an answer as any, might be, — A thorough 
man ; — one who stands for himself and for no one else ; 
an individual somebody, that loves the truth, and is ia 
earnest ; one who speaks, and his pupils must hear, be- 
cause he speaks the truth ; one of quick and generous 
sympathies, as well as of firm and honest principles. 

Such a one cannot be brought into full communion 
with a large school, under a series of years : he may, 
if he have adverse circumstances to contend with, be 
steadily increasing in his influence for even four or five 
years ; and he is not in the best possible relation to do 
good, till he is well understood by all his pupils, and 
they by him. 

Now the intimate knowleds;e of several hundred 
pupils is a great capital, and should not be disturbed 



THOROUGH INSTRUCTION. 161 

for slight causes. It cannot be acquired without great 
labor and study. Nor is it a capital vested in the 
right of the teacher only. The pupils have at least 
an equal interest in it ; since it is an essential condition 
of their own real progress. This is a point that is not 
duly considered. Fluctuation and change are worse for 
schools than for almost any other institutions. Improve- 
ment is, indeed, always desirable, but this may result 
under a permanent est?vblishment. Education, however, 
is less a matter of method and system, than is com- 
monly imagined. The steam-power speed, which anni- 
hilates distance and supplants labor, cannot work its 
wonders upon thought and feeling. There is still ne- 
cessary, for all sound purposes of teaching, just as 
much study of individual character as ever : upon this, 
all classification that is good for any thing is based. A 
school of two hundred pupils is a school of two hun- 
dred individuals, to be taught, indeed, in well-arranged 
classes, but to be studied closely, each by himself. I 
admit that there is a way of grading pupils according 
to their superficial smartness, which requires little 
observation, excepting as to lt>tdness of voice, quick- 
ness of perception, and lack of sensitiveness. But to 
arrange a school according to such superficial scholar- 
ship, is to do the best thing we can to cZerange it 
for the real purpose-s of education. The only proper 
basis upon which to grade a school, is the steady and 
healthful development of the intellect, and the refine- 
ment of the taste and moral feelings. To give the chief 
prominence to quickness of perception, and self-confi- 
dence, is to encourage impetuous haste, rather than 



162 MR. bale's lecture. 

soundness and accuracy. A school classified by such 
a criterion can be managed, indeed, by a manager ; 
taught not at all ; and it ^ill take years to get the deli- 
rium out of it : while one that is thoroughly settled 
upon a true moral foundation, will go alone and teach 
itself, for a while, better than one of the former kind 
will do, on first passing into the hands of a sound 
teacher, who, of course, must make war upon all its 
usages. 

One of the most fatal opinions that a teacher can 
entertain and act upon, is, that his duty is to cultivate 
the intellect rather than the moral nature. The natu- 
ral tendency of this notion is, not only to undervalue 
and postpone morality, but to degrade the intellect ; 
since moral subjects are best calculated to elevate and 
strengthen the intellectual powers. Besides, the higher 
faculties, if ascendant, will always employ and make 
useful the lower, whilst, on the contrary, the lower, 
if stimulated in undue proportion, or even if allowed 
to escape the control of the higher, will gradually usurp 
the mastery, and partially obliterate them. Let the 
development of the moral nature, then, be carefully at- 
tended to in the school, as being the highest natural 
element. Above all things else must our influence here 
be thorough, sound and truthful. No flimsy tissues 
of seeming excellence must be worn by ourselves, or be 
encouraged to be worn by our pupils. 

Since, then, the grand aim must be, to excite intel- 
lectual action, to expand the mind, to exercise the 
judgment, to habituate the individual to carefulness and 
attention, we shall find it necessary to resort to that 



THOROUGH INSTRUCTION. 163 

thorongliness and reality of discipline, or government, 
■which I have named as inseparable from thorough teach- 
ing. There will be obstacles in the road we have chosen ; 
storms must be encountered. They need not alarm, us ; 
they may all be met ; but still they are obstacles, and 
still they are storms, — realities, not to be winked out of 
sight. It is not always pleasant to subject the mind to 
a process of painstaking and careful investigation. 
Even men shrink from it against the urgency of strong 
motives ; still more will children. Human nature is 
essentially indolent ; present ease is apt to be chosen 
at the expense of future profit, and especially by the 
young. Here comes in the necessity of measures of 
inducement, of every shade, from the slightest hint to 
absolute coercion ; and we may not stop short of the lat- 
ter, when circumstances demand it, without abridging 
responsibility and influence, and betraying trust. To 
prescribe the measures of discipline adapted to particu- 
lar cases would be impossible ; the variety is as infinite 
as are the circumstances ; a sound head will suggest 
them, and a true heart will not fail to enforce them. 
But various as may be the kinds of motive addressed, 
they must all be true ; and they must all spring from 
an authority that is real. Now to prescribe at o*ice the 
limit to a teacher's authority, we may lay it down as a 
fundamental maxim, that the government of the school 
is, without reserve, parental. And whatever the teacher 
would feel authorized and bound to do for the pupil as 
its parent, he is authorized and bound to do, as its 
teacher, if the parent will support him. He is, for the 



164 MR. bale's lecture. 

time being, the parent, and, in reality, to a great extent, 
the intellectual and moral parent of his pupils. 

What, then, may a parent do to enforce obedience 
when it is refused ? I answer. He not only may, but must 
secure obedience, at all events, if by reasonable means 
he can do so ; and just as much must the teacher do. 
He is not to shun contention with the child, by artfully 
substituting management for government, and so pro- 
cure a compliance with his wishes by addressing himself 
to the capricious feelings of the moment, and actually 
flattering the child with a notion that he is very yield- 
ing, and kind, and obedient, when really he manifests 
nothing but obstinacy and a rebellious spirit. We often 
hear it said, " It is easier to draw than to drive. " 
Yes, and when we ought to draw, it is folly to attempt 
to drive. But when authority utters its dictates, it need 
not assume the beseeching tones of entreaty, as if the 
manner of the command determined its success. A 
mild manner is worth a great deal, so its mildness be 
unaffected ; but the manner is to be regarded as of 
secondary importance ; it is by no means the most essen- 
tial consideration. Manner is various ; but truth is 
always the same. Sincerity is the quality which must 
support all good government. Children, in the long run, 
learn to see through the manner, and look directly at 
the motive. 

Kindness, forbearance, expostulation, appeals to the 
moral feelings to any extent which the circumstances 
will admit, are always to be used ; but our aim must be 
steadily at obedience, in spirit and in truth ; although 
something else might subserve our own immediate pur- 



THOROUGH INSTRUCTION. 165 

poses as well, notlimg will supply the place of the spirit 
of submission in the child ; that is what he most needs. 
If, to avoid the infliction of punishment, we assume an 
aflected feeling of tenderness, when the real objection 
is indolence or indifference, or the fear of exciting present 
ill-feeling against ourselves, we produce a bad effect upon 
the child. Still worse if further stratagem is resorted 
to, and, our mock sympathy seeming real to the offender, 
a feelin;2; is brous-ht about in his mind which is but the 
semblance of penitence. Our dealings with children, as 
with others, must, above all things else, be true. 

It is said by some that the true art of governing 
children, isj to conceal from them the fact that they are 
governed. This is a complete misnomer. What is 
here called government is only trick and manoeuvring. 
There can be no intention without consciousness. The 
spirit of obedience cannot be inferred but from an evi- 
dent feeling of being governed ; they are but two 
names for the same thing. How absurd to give one the 
credit of that as a voluntary act, which he does un- 
consciously, and which he would not do if aware of it • 
as if I should praise the generosity of the miser, whose 
guineas I have chanced to find, and not only keep the 
guineas, but claim the merit of having softened the 
miser's heart ; and to avail myself of his unmissed 
wealth, would be about as honest, as stealthily to pro- 
cure from my pupil a compliance with my wishes, by 
substituting deception and artifice for downright control. 

There is another kind of dealing, the opposite of the 
kst, though sometimes combined with it, which might 

9 



166 MR. iiale's lecture. 

as well be called tyranny ; tlie chief element of which 
is not severity, but injustice and fluctuating caprice. 

Genuine moral government is effected only \Yhen the 
governor presents to the mind of the governed the rea- 
sonableness of the law which commands. I do not mean 
that he is to explain every mandate, but that he must 
produce an impression that his sway is, in the main, just 
and right ; and this he may do without engendering a 
habit of captious criticism in regard to his requisitions ; 
to do this, however, there must be in his own mind a 
love of right and order, and an evident respect for 
authority and law and duty. A lawless, domineering, 
unreasonable spirit, may indeed dragoon some into obe- 
dience, or artfully cajole others into a compliance with 
his wishes, but can never exercise any permanent and 
steady control over rational and independent minds. 

He who would command successfully must first learn 
to obey. He must base his authority upon sound prin- 
ciples, and having done this, he is not at liberty to yield 
it, nor need he yield it. Truth is mighty, and will pre- 
vail ; and the experiments made to illustrate the beauty 
of a theory, if that theory be false, will but tend to es- 
tablish more firmly the doctrines of the true. 

AVe should hold fast, then, to sound principles in 
teaching and training, leaving all ephemeral systems, 
and patent, labor-saving methods of doing every thing 
easily and doing nothing well, to rise and fall in their 
turn, without rejoicing at the one, or mourning over the 
other ; and plod steadily on in the old beaten track, con- 
tent to labor and to wait, teaching really what we pretend 
to teach, and governing really and firmly where we ought 



THOROUGH INSTRUCTION. 167 

to govern, remembering that when authority is properly 
vested, its very rectitude constitutes an obligation upon 
us to maintain and exercise it. 

Brethren, we have come up here, to the heart of the 
Commonwealth, to take counsel together for the welfare 
of her rising sons ; to learn from each other, to encourage 
each other, and especially to warm our sympathies in 
friendly intercourse ; to know each other better, and to 
establish our confidence in each other. Let us strive to 
feel the responsibility that rests upon us ; but so to feel it, 
that we shall neither be unconscious of its burden, nor 
faithless in our power, with divine aid, to sustain it. Let us 
fortify ourselves against those influences that tend to lead 
us astray from sound doctrines. Let us remember that 
we are to teach for the sake of remote good. Let us 
constantly proceed upon the fundamental idea, that in the 
school everything is in embryo ; that however the public 
may distrust our influence, and, for a time, undervalue 
our efibrts, we must still think more of keeping good 
schools, than of being known to do so. It is our busi- 
ness to labor for the best good of our pupils : it will be 
theirs, in due time, to show what we have done for 
them. Trust this wholly to them, and they will, sooner 
or later, feel the responsibility of being trusted. The 
surest pledge of their faithfulness, is, to show ourselves 
faithful. 

" These are my jewels," said the Eoman matron ; 
yet in no spirit of vainglorious display, but rather to 
excuse herself from display. Let teachers, like Cor- 
nelia, polish their jewels, not to make a coronet for their 
own adorning, but that they may shine as beautiful stars 



168 MR. bale's lecture. 

in the moral firmament, giving light to those who may 
be in darkness, and shedding health and comfort and 
the pure rays of truth upon all who may be about their 
pathway. 

Set your faces as a flint against the corrupting influ- 
ence of temporary popularity. Labor and trust ; "for 
in due season ye shall reap, if ye faint not." " They 
that sow in tears, shall reap in joy. He that goeth 
forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall, doubt- 
less, come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves 
with him.'' " Cast thy bread upon the waters, and 
thou shalt find it after many days." 



PROCEEDINGS OF THE ASSOCIATION. 



THIRD ANNUAL SESSION. 



The Third Annual Session of the Massachusetts 
Teachers' Association was held in Hampden Hall, 
Springfield, commencing Monday evening, November 
22d, 184T. 

The Association was called to order by the Presi- 
dent, at 7 o'clock. In the absence of the Secretary, 
Mr. Charles C. Dame was appointed Secretary, pro 
tern 5 who read the records of the last meeting. 

The Throne of Grace was addressed by Rev. Mr. 
Buckingham, of Springfield. 

Mr. Parish, of Springfield, then extended a cordial 
welcome to the Association, to which the President 
responded. 

The usual courtesy was extended to reporters for 
the press. 

Messrs. Thayer and Tower, of Suffolk, Vaill and 
King, of Essex, Sweetser and Tweed, of Middlesex, 
and Bowers and Parish, of Hampden, were appointed a 
Committee on the Nomination of Officers, and they were 
instructed to report in print. 

Messrs. Bowers and Parish, of Hampden, Wells, 
Vaill, Northend, and King, of Essex, Thayer and S. 



17'2 JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS. 

Bates, of Suffolk, and Sweetser, of Middlesex, on 
motion of Mr. Bowers, of Springfield, were appointed a 
Committee to hear the report of the publishing commit- 
tee for the past year, and to report upon the same to 
the Association at half-past 8 o'clock on Tuesda}^ 

Eleven o'clock was assi2:ned as the hour for discuss- 
ing the amendment to the Constitution, proposed at 
the last session bj Mr. Thajer, of Boston. 

Mr. S. AV. Bates then delivered a lecture on the 
" Relation of Education to its Age ; " after which, the 
subject of the lecture was discussed bj Messrs. Thayer, 
of Boston, "Wells, of Newburyport, Northend, of Salem, 
Tower, of Boston, and by the lecturer of the evening. 

The Association then adjourned, to meet at 8 1-2 
o'clock on Tuesday morning. 

Tuesday Morning, Nov. 23d, 1847. 

The meeting was called to order by Mr. Sherwin, of 
Boston. 

The Committee to whom a hearing was assigned for 
this hour, reported progress, and a further hearing 
was appointed for 2 o'clock, P. M. 

On motion of Mr. Northend, an invitation was ex- 
tended to Mr. Page, Principal of the Normal School, 
Albany, Mr. Libbey, Principal of the High School, 
in Portland, and to all teachers present from other 
States, to join in the deliberations. 

Messrs. Bowers, Thayer, and Northend, were 
appointed a Committee on enrolment. 

Remarks were made by Mr. Philbrick, of Boston, on 
topics suggested by the last evening's lecture. 



JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS. 173 

Mr. Pennell, of Cabotville, in the chair, 

The Association listened to a lecture by Mr. Charles 
Hammond, of Monson, on " The Relation of the 
Common School System of New England to higher 
Seminaries." 

At the close of the lecture, remarks upon topics 
suggested thereby were made by Messrs. Libbey, of 
Portland, and Sherwin, of Boston. 

Mr. Thayer, for the Committee on Nomination, 
reported a list of officers for the ensuing year. The 
report was accepted, and 12 o'clock assigned as the 
time for choice of officers. 

The proposed amendment to the Constitution was 
then taken up and debated by Mr. Thayer, of Boston, 
in its favor, Messrs. Northend, of Salem, Sweetser, of 
Charlestown, S. "W. Bates and Philbrick, of Boston, in 
opposition, and rejected. 

At 12 o'clock the special assignment for this hour 
having been taken up, the choice of officers was pro- 
ceeded with, and the following gentlemen were elected : 

President, Ariel Parish, of Springfield. Vice-Presi- 
dents, Thomas Sherwin, of Boston, D. P. Galloup, of 
Salem, Levi Reed, of Roxbury, Geo. B. Emerson, of 
Boston, James Ritchie, of Duxbury, Joshua Bates, Jr., 
of Boston, Nelson Wheeler, of Worcester, WiUiam 
Seaver, of Quincy, Henry K. Edson, of Hadley, D. S. 
Rowe, of Westfield, Chas. Hammond, of Monson, P. H. 
Sweetser, of Charlestown, W. W. Mitchell, of Cabot- 
ville, Joseph W. Upton, of Greenfield. Corresponding 
Secretary, Chas. Northend, of Salem. Recording 
Secretary, Charles C. Dame, of Newburyport. Treas- 

9* 



174 JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS. 

urer, Aaron L. Ordway, of Boston. Counsellors, S. S. 
Greene, of Boston, Thomas Gushing, of Boston, Wil- 
liam D. Swan, of Boston, Bufus Putnam, of Salem, 
Daniel Mansfield, of Cambridge, Wm. H. Wells, of 
Newburyport, Elbridge Smith, of Cambridge, Jas. B. 
Batcheller, of Marblehead, Bev. J. B. Cowles, of 
Ipswich, Benj. F. Tweed, of Charlestown, C. B. Bowers, 
of Springfield, Samuel W. Bates, of Boston. 

The Association then adjourned^ to meet at 2 o'clock, 
P.M. 

Afternoon Session. 

The meeting was called to order bj Mr. Sherwin, of 
Boston, and Mr. Parish, president elect, was inducted 
into oflSce. 

Mr. Sherwin then delivered a lecture, on " The 
Influence of Example in reference to Education." 
The subject of the lecture was afterwards discussed by 
Messrs. Northend, of Salem, Sweetser, of Charlestown, 
Libbey, of Portland, Bowers, of Springfield, Vaill, of 
Newburyport, Pennell, of Charlestown, and Philbrick, 
of Boston. 

After a recess of five minutes, Mr. Bowers, for the 
Committee appointed to hear the report of the Pub- 
lishing Committee, reported it as expedient that the 
publication of a Teachers' Journal be referred to a com- 
mittee consisting of the following gentlemen, empower- 
ed to fill vacancies, viz. : 

Messrs. Parish, of Springfield, Sweetser, of Charles- 
town, Thayer, of Boston, Wells, of Newburyport, North- 
end, of Salem, Greene, of Boston, Pennell and Tweed,^ 



JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS.- 175 

of Charlestown, Sherwln, S. W. Bates and Philbrlck, of 
Boston, and Carlton, of Salem. 

The subject of Truancy came up, and remarks there- 
on were made by Mr. Joshua Bates, Jr., of Boston. 
Mr. ISTorthend, of Salem, offered the following resolution, 
which was adopted. 

Resolved, That a Committee consisting of seven gentle- 
men be appointed to consider the subject of Truancy, with 
power to bring it before the Legislature if they should deem 
it expedient 

The following gentlemen were appointed on the 
Committee : — Messrs. Joshua Bates, Jr., of Boston, 
Ariel Parish, of Springfield, W. H. Wells, of Newbury- 
port, Benj. F. Tweed, of Charlestown, D. P. Galloup, of 
Salem, W. D. Swan, of Boston, and Chas. Northend, 
of Salem. 

The following resolution was then adopted. 

'''■Resolved^ That this Convention recommend to the Teach- 
ers throughout the State to form themselves into Associa- 
tions, having as their object their mutual improvement as 
teachers, which they are to accomplish by suggestions, dis- 
cussions, and the expression of mutual sympathy, 

*' That such Associations be composed of the Teachers of 
one town, or of several neighboring towns, not to exceed five 
in number. 

*' That they be organized by the choice of all necessary 
officers, and that they hold, if possible, one meeting each 
week, during the winter session of their schools." 

The Association adjourned to meet at 7 o'clock. 



176 journal of proceedings. 

Evening Session. 

The Association was called to order by the Presi- 
dent. 

Mr. Wheeler, Principal of the Worcester High 
School, delivered a lecture. — Subject, The " Teacher's 
Profession." 

The subject of the lecture was discussed by Messrs. 
Bradlee, of Charlestown, Bowers, of Springfield, and 
Sherwin, of Boston. 

Remarks were made by Messrs. Page, of Albany, 
J. Bates, Jr., of Boston, and Libbey, of Portland. 

It was voted to hold the next meeting in Salem. 

The subjects of Certificates of Membership, Seal of 
the Association, &c., were left to the Board of Directors. 

After remarks by several gentlemen, the following 
resolution, offered by Mr. Galloup, of Salem, was unani- 
mously adopted. 

Resolved, That the thanks of this Association be tendered 
to those Directors of railroads who have so liberally furnished 
extra accommodations to its members ; to the several lec- 
turers upon the present occasion ; to the citizens of Springfield 
for their generous hospitality ; to those gentlemen to whom 
the Association is indebted for the gratuitous use of the Hall, 
and to those editors who have given notice of the meeting." 

After closing remarks by the President, the Throne 
of Grace was addressed by Rev. Mr. Clark, of Spring- 
field, and the Association adjourned, after singing 
" Old Hundred." 

(Signed) 

Chas. C. Dame, 

Recording Sec'y, 



LECTURES OF THE THIRD YEAR. 



LECTURE V. 

THE RELATION OE EDUCATIOT^ TO ITS AGE. 

BY S. W. BATES. 

We are assembled to-day to speak of Education. 
But what constitutes Education ? What is the standard 
by which we are to judge ? * Whom are we to ask to 
tell us the essential properties of Education — essential 
alike in theory and practice ? Is the Indian, who 
spends years in disciplining his body, giving strength to 
every muscle and power to every nerve, undergoing 
hunger, thirst, and labor, that he may be prepared in 
manhood to take his place nobly among the warriors of 
his tribe, — preparing himself, if such should be his lot, to 
march unshrinkingly to the burning stake which awaits 
the captive warrior, and who, with an inflexible stoicism 
which Zeno himself could not surpass, meets his fate, 

" As one that had been studied In his death, 
To throw away the dearest thing he owed, 
As 't were a careless trifle, " — 

is he to be called uneducated ? Is the poor, degraded, 
illiterate serf, who hardly knows that there is a land 
beyond the narrow precincts of his own journeyings, but 



180 MR. BATES'S LECTURE. 

who has trained himself to bear his hard lot without a 
murmur, so that when reviled he reviles not again, when 
beaten, keeps in the wrathful passions which almost 
burst with their fierce violence, until with Christian 
love he cries out through his tears and torments, 
*' Father, forgive them! " — is he uneducated? Is the 
poor, sick cripple, patiently meeting the rude rebuffs of 
a heartless world, uneducated ? Is that man, who, rising 
from the dregs of the people, unaided by books, un- 
patronized by wealth, with a steady energy and a fixed 
purpose, overcomes all obstacles and attains the highest 
rank in that which he has chosen for his calling, — I 
care not whether it be profession or trade, — is he un- 
educated? Is education to be obtained only from 
books ? Says Alfieri, '' Learned men are they who 
have committed to memory other men's thoughts ; " 
and no better definition can be given of a mere learned 
man. And though the terms " educated man " and 
" learned man " have in our age, among the civilized, 
become almost synonymous, yet a learned man is but 
one variety of the genus Educated man ; and in some 
relations, most certainly the poorest variety. For in 
what respect is he more worthy than the above to be 
called an educated man, who, with undoubted knowledge 
of all languages, and with an intimate acquaintance with 
all the written wisdom of the past, is still ignorant of the 
actual world, ignorant of men, ignorant of any practical 
way to utilize his vast store of information ? Whose 
notion of education shall we adopt ? Shall the Chinese, 
the Arabian, and the American, in the present condi- 
tion of their social relations, adopt the same ? Or, 



THE KELATION OF EDUCATION TO ITS AGE. 181 

among civilized lands, will the same system which is the 
best for a nation like England, where the nobilitj and 
the people are almost distinct races, be equally suitable 
for a nation like America, where all are freeborn ? Or? 
in any given land, shall they who intend to devote their 
lives, some to agriculture, some to mechanics, some to 
purely scientific investigations, be limited to the same 
elementary training ? We might extend these questions 
in a variety of forms to an almost endless extent ; but 
the final question is, Can any one give a definition of 
Education which will comprehend all times and all 
nations in their varied relations to each other and to the 
individual elements which constitute themselves, which 
vrill meet every case which may arise, and under which 
we may arrange all the varieties of forms in which 
Education has, in different ages, manifested itself? 

Religion, which treats of man's condition in another 
world, and his relation to his God ; Government, which 
treats of man's condition in this world, and his relation 
to his fellow-men ; and Education, which treats of the 
methods by which individual man is developed, so as 
to take his proper position in regard both to Religion 
and Government, are the three engrossing topics of all 
times. In fact, all history is made up in recounting 
their condition or in tracing their progress. They have 
been presented to the pubHc in a thousand forms, and 
by men whom the world has delighted to honor. The 
talent of ages has conspired to throw light upon them. 
Theoretical and practical men have given us their views 
respecting them. Exploded opinions of enthusiastic 
philanthropists, have again and again been revived, and 



182 MR. BATES'g' LECTURE. 

as often have perished. Experiments have been tried 
upon them all, and have failed, only to be re-tried by a 
succeeding generation. Yet so long as the constitution 
of the world remains as at present, so long as the same 
elements, which now rule, have power, none can settle 
the controverted points in religion, none can set the 
bounds to government, none can establish the principles 
and practice of a universal s^^stem of education. It is 
the wisdom of God that ordains it. It is necessary to 
furnish the food for man's powers. It is another proof 
that this world is only a probationary state, and not our 
final resting-place. It is in the necessary struggles 
arising from conflicting opinions in honest minds, that 
man's heart is to be tempered and his passions tried. 

All systems of education agree in one particular ; 
because that is the natural, constitutional basis, given 
to man by God as the germ, and unchangeably settled 
by him. That link of common connection is Discipline ; 
and perhaps better than any thing else, we can call 
discipline the essential property of education. At 
least, we may go so far as to say this : no man can be 
an educated man under any system, civilized or savage, 
without laborious personal discipline. Like every great 
subject, education naturally divides itself into two parts, 
the science and the art, — the settlement of principles in 
accordance with which all education must be conducted, 
and plans for carrying these principles into effective 
operation. The three natures of man, moral, physical, 
and intellectual, must be educated in due proportion. 
What this due proportion is to each youth, must be de- 
termined by his station, character and prospects, the 



THE RELATION OF EDUCATIOlsr TO ITS AGE. 188 

condition of Ms country, and the characteristics of his 
age. Moral education without intellectual, makes man 
a bigoted fanatic, and it was this which tended strongly 
to produce the darkness of the Middle Ages, as we 
shall show more fully hereafter. Educating intellectu- 
ally, and not morally, is giving swords to madmen ; for 
knowledge is power to curse as well as to bless. Here 
was the great failure of antiquity, and to this, in a 
great degree, are we to attribute the downfall of its na- 
tions. Individually, too, he who to his greatness adds 
goodness, increases his power in a geometrical ratio, 
while he who disregards morality, may indeed be used 
for his talents, but will not be honored for himself. 
For, even in a world no nearer perfection than ours, 
character is beginning to be balanced against intellectual 
strength. 

Mere physical education only equalizes men with 
brutes. JSfo physical education renders almost value- 
less both moral and intellectual. These are general 
principles, and are fully established. They are the 
fundamental truths in all systems of education, and men 
have only differed, as to which should have preponder- 
ance. 

In regard to the second division, plans for carrying 
these principles into operation, nothing can be per- 
manently settled ; for plans must change with the 
change of the times. They will be modified according 
as moral, intellectual, or physical education predomi- 
nates. The spirit of different ages, the different char- 
acters of governments, the peculiar force of different 
notions, and the difference of views between practical 



184 MR. BATES'S LECTURE. 

and theoretical men, always combine to prevent both 
permanency and universality in educational plans. 
Therefore, though the same general principles may be 
universally adopted, it is impossible to frame any edu- 
cational plan, which will be equally fitted for all nations 
and all ages. The correctness of this remark will ap- 
pear in a brief review of the history of Education. It 
is the design of the present lecture, in sustaining this 
statement, to show that education has, in all ages, been 
affected by the spirit of the times, and in each nation 
by the peculiar circumstances of that nation, and par- 
ticularly to inquire what is the leading idea of the pres- 
ent age, and what are its effects upon education. 

In our pride, we are apt to undervalue the knowl- 
edge of the ancients. We conceive of them as but one 
remove from barbarians, and this, too, with reference 
to many nations, in spite of the thousand historical evi- 
dences to the contrary. It is natural for proud man to 
consider every one wrong, who does not think as he 
does. With the same spirit, we are apt to suppose, 
because mind did not always manifest its powers in the 
same way that it does with us, or work those powers to 
produce the same results that it does now, that, there- 
fore, there was no mind, or at least no results, intellec- 
tual, and worthy of our attention. Yet we owe much 
to the ancients. We are what we are, rather because 
we came after them, than because we are intrinsically 
wiser than they. Their existence and their workings 
were, in the course of events, necessary to the present 
condition of the world. Their investigations have been 
the basis of our discoveries. Their history is our ex- 



THE RELATION OE EDUCATION TO ITS AGE. 185 

perience. Most of the theories in vogue now, have 
been tested by them ; most of the experiments we are 
now trying, they have tried. A minute history would 
show, that though the ancients, destitute of the art of 
printing, were able to transmit to us but few of their 
discoveries in those branches of science which they and 
we have pursued in common, yet, there remain sur- 
prising memorials of their wisdom — surprising, from the 
fact that we, with all our wisdom, have not been able 
to fathom them. Rarely is it, that any discovery is 
made by the moderns, the germ of which was not known 
to the ancients — the great principle, of which the dis- 
covery is but a deduction. So true is it, " that there 
is nothing new under the sun ! " The world contains 
but few original truths on any subject. Collect all the 
books of the world ; cull out the ideas they contain ; 
add the thoughts of all living, — then cast away the 
duplicates, and how comparatively small is the re- 
mainder. It would not require a large library to con- 
tain it. He who discovers to the world a great truth, 
is as immortal as the truth itself. Principles are few, 
and mostly obvious ; they were chiefly found out in the 
early ages of the world. But it is their deductions, 
their modifications, and their combinations in matter and 
mind, in regard to all the varied relations of life, which 
afford whatever there is of novelty in discovery and 
invention. These combinations are infinite. They are 
subject to the rules of arithmetical permutation. They 
are like the musical scale, which, with its few but 
infinitely varied notes, furnishes inexhaustible melody. 
Different ages, different nations, and, indeed, all con- 



186 MR. BATES'S LECTURE. 

ceivable human differences, combine to increase the 
modifications of truth, moral, mental and physical. In 
their applications of some of these fundamental princi- 
ples to the affairs of society, the ancients made many 
discoveries suitable only to their own mode of life, and 
many others adapted to all mankind, of which the 
moderns only know that they existed, and which have 
baffled all our attempts to repeat. To illustrate this, 
however, will be merely incidental in the following 
review. Our design is, to show that every age and 
every nation has its characteristics, that they have 
directed in the applications of all general truths, and 
that education has been and must be conducted in ac- 
cordance with their developments, whatever may have 
been the causes of these developments. 

This world is one vast school-house, and, to illustrate 
our views, we might select at random from any quarter. 
In patriarchal times, education was patriarchal. The 
old man, on an elevated seat, lectured to the children 
gathered around. It was a family circle, the instruc- 
tion was in famihar advice, and of a character appro- 
priate to their pastoral life. Among the Israelites, the 
Scriptures was the text-book. Intellectual education 
was swallowed up in rigorous sectarianism. The youth 
was educated to be the Jew, in contradistinction from 
the Gentile. The whole tendency was to narrow the 
mind, to produce only the Pharisee, to make the Jew 
what he still is, a distinct race. 

In Egypt, various circumstances impelled to educa- 
tion in the mechanical arts. The energy, perseverance 
and talent concentrated here, resulted in many impor- 



THE RELATION OF EDUCATION TO ITS AGE. 18T 

tant discoveries. For example, much Egyptian linen was 
finer than can now be made ; mousseline-de-laine was 
fashionable with Egyptian belles more than three thou- 
sand years ago ; much of their workmanship in copper, 
glass and gold, remains unsurpassed. In chemistry, 
they made discoveries of which the modern chemist is 
ignorant. In engineering and architecture, they per- 
formed much which the moderns have confessed them- 
selves unable to accompHsh. None in our day are 
able to discover the means by which the enormous 
imposts on the lintels of the temple of Karmil could 
have been raised to their places ; their pyramids still 
remain among the seven wonders of the world. 

Astrology, the mysteries of magic, and the search 
for the philosopher's stone, concentrated the talent of 
Arabia upon mathematics and chemistry. The in- 
vention of Algebra and the application of the digits 
to numbers in arithmetic, show the genius with which 
they pursued the first branch, and almost any Eastern 
story, which treats of the mysteries of magic, gives 
abundant evidence of the success with which they 
pursued the second. The common people of these two 
nations knew none of these things. They were des- 
tined to be passive subjects of an absolute despot, and 
accordingly were educated, as though they were not 
in the possession of intellect. The spirit of the age 
and the ideas of the government ranked them in the 
scale of being hardly higher than brutes, and they 
were trained as horses to their tasks, rather than as 
men to their duties. 



188 MR. BATES'S LECTURE. 

Cjrus the Great inculcated the necessity of practis- 
ing the Virtues, as they were called, but he based 
them rather on policy than on principle, and they 
terminated in effeminacy. Besides, to make his coun- 
try what he wished it, it was necessary that the Per- 
sian should be also the soldier. His system, after all, 
was chiefly physical, and the relaxation of stern mil- 
itary discipline which succeeded his death, took from 
the Persian the only power which their education gave. 
The best education for the common soldier is to learn 
implicit, passive, and even senseless obedience. Says 
Alexander Hamilton, " Soldiers can hardly be too 
stupid. Let officers be men of sense, and the nearer 
the soldiers approach to machines, the better." 

In Sparta, the State was the governing idea, and 
education, with every thing else, was made directly 
subservient to its interests. The system of Lycurgus 
■was designed, not to make the 7nan, but the citizen. 
The individual was swallowed up in the community. 
War was the business of this community, and hence 
its education was mostly physical. The perfectness 
of Lycurgus's system, for the proposed purpose, was 
shown at the Pass of Thermopylae. Leonidas was 
the personification of Spartan education. 

The native character of Athens was always differ- 
ent from that of any other city of Greece. The ste- 
riUty of its soil, the richness of its mines, and its com- 
manding maritime position, combined to make it the 
commercial emporium of the Mediterranean, whilst 
the free intercourse of its citizens with strangers from 
all nations, rendered it the most polished of ancient 



THE RELATION OF EDUCATION TO ITS AGE. 189 

cities. x\tlicns, bj its innate disposition, was inclined 
to intellectual pursuits, but the warlike spirit of the 
times prevented its free development. Intellectual 
and physical education were hence combined ; and 
the relation of the city to surrounding nations, or the 
characteristics of its governing men, decided which, 
at any given time, should have the predominance. Its 
citizens, in some branches of intellectual education, 
were our superiors ; in many of the fine arts, they 
remain models to the world. The perfectness of their 
language is a living proof of the purity of their taste, 
the discrimination of their judgment, and the acuteness 
of their understanding. 

The glory of Rome is emphatically its martial prow- 
ess ; yet the elements of its greatness are to be found 
in the education of its citizens during the peaceful 
reign of Numa. The religious character of the Roman 
the worship of God without idols, which Numa incul- 
cated, had its effect for ages, and made Rome the most 
religious city of the ancients. The innate pride, energy 
and patriotism which produced the Horatii and the 
Gracchi, originating as an impulse from Romulus, was 
by Numa strengthened into a settled principle. Still 
another great secret of the Roman's success, was the 
comparatively high estimate of woman's character. 
Says De Tocqueville, " If I were asked to what the sin- 
gular prosperity and growing strength of the American 
people ought mainly to be attributed, I should reply, 
to the superiority of their women." Mutatis mutandis 
— might not the same be said with reference to Roman 
superiority? We instinctively associate the Roman 

10 



190 MR. BATES'S LECTURE. 

matron with our ideas of Roman grandeur. We cannot 
forget the Cornelias, the Aurelias, and the Atias. It is a 
singular circumstance, that almost every change in form 
of government at Rome, was occasioned, either directly 
or indirectly, by woman. 

At Athens, the dissolute Aspasia and her compan- 
ions, were the only class of females that received an 
intellectual education. So true is this, that Pericles, 
Alcibiades, and even Socrates, were accustomed to 
leave the company of the virtuous, but ignorant lady, 
for the more intellectual society of the courtesan. But 
Roman history tells us, that Virginia was returning 
from school when she was seized by the emissary of 
Appius. The State educated the Grecian, but the 
mother, the Roman. The proud retort, " These are my 
jewels," speaks volumes. The beautiful was the lead- 
ing idea in the education of the Athenian ; the useful, 
in that of the Roman. The former was all theory, the 
latter, all practice. Out of more than three hundred 
thousand inhabitants at Athens, but twenty thousand 
were citizens, and these few were at almost perfect 
leisure. The daily attendance upon the lectures of 
Socrates and Plato, the public instructions of Aristotle 
and Aristides, the magnificent works of sculpture and 
painting, scattered with such profusion throughout the 
city, their familiarity with the works of Homer, Hero- 
dotus, the dramas of Sophocles and Euripides, all com- 
bined to render the education of the Athenian highly 
intellectual. We all remember that Athens, in the 
days of its decline, furnished schoolmasters for the 
world ; and the captives from the Peloponnesian war 



THE RELATION OF EDUCATION TO ITS AGE. 191 

regained their liberty by reciting to their masters the 
verses of Euripides. 

Says Plutarch, " Archimedes considered every art 
which ministers to common uses, as mean and sordid, 
and placed his whole delight in those intellectual spec- 
ulations which, without any relation to the necessities 
of life, have an intrinsic existence arising from truth 
and demonstration only." Aristotle was in reality the 
discoverer of that which is known as the Baconian 
system of philosophy. He thought, and in substance 
said, that whoever wished to make the philosophical 
researches of the mind applicable to the practical 
transactions of life, must pursue the inductive method ; 
but, in accordance with the spirit of the age, he con- 
sidered the minding of matter with the sublime con- 
c options of mind, as grovelling, and unworthy the 
dignity of the true philosopher. This idea of Archime- 
des and Aristotle pervaded the whole system of Athe- 
nian education. The gratification of the mind, the 
pursuit of abstract truth, the search after the sublime, 
was with them every thing, — the utilility of knowledge, 
in its practical details, nothing. On the contrary, the 
Roman was the true Yankee among the ancients. But 
few great principles in intellectual science were ever 
discovered at Rome ; but scarcely any were discovered 
elsewhere, but that Rome made them subservient to 
her interests. Says Kett, " the Romans copied the 
form of the Sabine shield, and armed their troops with 
the Spanish sword. Horses for their cavalry were 
procured from Numidia, and the wreck of a Cartha- 
ginian vessel was the model of their first ship-of-war. 



192 MR. BATES'S LECTURE. 

Tliej stationed the captured elephants, which had been 
employed against them in the Punic wars, in the front 
of their army against Philip." Not only did the world 
contribute to deck her temples with works of art, but 
Cicero, Yirgil, and Horace have each confessed that 
even Roman literature was but a copy of Grecian. 

In regard to all these nations, the more we study 
into their historical details, the more shall we be con- 
vinced that the same differences which characterized 
them as nations, manifested themselves in their systems 
of education. 

The ignorance of the Middle Ages was chiefly due 
to the preponderance of religious education conducted 
upon wrong principles. The early fathers of the 
Christian church neglected literature and science, on 
account of their connection with heathen mythology. 
The fourth council of Carthage prohibited their bish- 
ops from reading secular books. Jerome condemned 
the study of them except for pious ends. All phys- 
ical science, especially, was held in avowed contempt, 
as inconsistent with revealed truths. Religion, without 
knowledge, is not sufficient to preserve from degrada- 
tion. Destitute of books, and deprived of the lecture, 
(that great source of instruction to the old Grecian 
and Roman,) taught by the priests only to worship and 
obey, the men of the Middle Ages were soon buried 
in ignorance, indolence, and apathy. They were not 
educated at all ; for education implies design and dis- 
cipline ; they merely existed. 

A powerful exemplification of the idea which we 
wish to illustrate in the present lecture, is to be found 



THE RELATION OF EDUCATION TO ITS AGE. 193 

in the effect upon society of the institution of Chiv- 
alry. It introduced a new feature in education. The 
youth was educated to be the polite gentleman, the true 
knight ; to aid the distressed, however lowly the rank 
of the sufferer, to despise the meanness of stratagems, 
to speak the open truth, and boldly to contend for the 
right. The refining influence of woman, for the first 
time in Europe, came in to soften the roughness of 
military discipline. The education was physical and 
moral, and though the extreme of chivalry became at 
length ridiculous, in its original purity it was preemi- 
nently useful, well adapted to the times, and a great 
progressive step in civilization. For centuries during 
and after the Middle Ages, war was the business of 
the world, and preparation for it, the education of the 
people. Many a Leonidas, doubtless, lived, but there 
was none to perpetuate his glory. 

In the ninth century, Charlemagne in France, and 
Alfred in England, founded seminaries of learning. 
But the age was against them ; and it was not until 
Luther had reformed the religion, and Bacon the phil- 
osophy of the world, that the intellectual education of 
the masses was conceived of, as among the possibles*. 

Among the moderns, each nation has its individu- 
ality. Phlegmatic Germany has given us the trans- 
cendental metaphysician ; fiery Italy, the burning poefc 
and the fierce tragedian ; enthusiastic France, the 
fickle reformer and the truth-loving mathematician ; 
proud England, the belle-lettre proficient and the sci- 
entific philosopher ; practical America, the utilitarian. 
In the education of the masses, the United States 



194 MR. BATES'S LECTURE. 

stands first, the States of Germany second, France 
third. Great Britain fourth, whilst in Russia, and in 
almost the whole of Asia, despotism has hardly permit- 
ted the word education to be breathed. Yet, the dif- 
ference in the methods of education, and the difference 
in the results, are characteristic, and plainly marked 
national peculiarities. Every man, to a certain extent, 
is a living manifestation of the spirit of the age in 
which he lives. I cannot, therefore, better give vivid- 
ness to my idea in the above review, than by assem- 
bling the representatives of different ages. Conceive 
to be present an Egyptian, a Spartan, a Persian, 
an Athenian, a Roman, a Schoolman of the Middle 
Ages, a Chevalier de Bayard, a Sir Walter Raleigh, a 
CavaUer and Roundhead, a soldier of Napoleon, a 
Russian serf, a German transcendentalist, a Jesuit 
pope, an Eastern despot, and, from the United States, 
a practical schoolmaster and a theoretical friend of 
education. Conceive each, just to have expressed his 
views upon education. What a Babel of opinions ! 
A hundred years hence, in what light shall we appear 
in this list ? Can there then be permanency in educa- 
tional plans ? Could any of the above change times 
or nation ? Yet careful study of different systems is 
advantageous in enabling us to avoid the errors and 
embrace the truths, which respectively marked their 
developments. The moral this teaches is, that there 
is no such thing as abstract education. The men of 
the cloister, however wise, cannot lay down any appro- 
priate system. Like Rousseau and Locke, they may 
throw out many useful ideas, and many beautiful 



THE RELATION OE EDUCATION TO ITS AGE. 195 

thoughts, but their systems will be Utopian and imprac- 
ticable. No better example need be given than Rous- 
seau's Sophia and Aurelius ; a work that is full of 
profound, common-sense thoughts upon education, yet 
rendered almost ridiculous in the view of the prac- 
tical teacher, by the absurd, foolish, and impossible 
plans which it inculcates. 

The youth must be educated to meet, not every 
emergency, but only such as circumstances determine 
are prepared for him. This applies to both branches 
of education, to discipline as well as to instruction. 
For it is as necessary that the mind of the statesman, 
the soldier, and the financier, should be disciplined 
respectively, by drawing out and developing different 
powers, as that they should be instructed in different 
species of knowledge. 

Educationists, therefore, must study the spirit of the 
age, the forte of the nation, the capacity of the man, 
before they put in practice ill-digested theories. Ex- 
periment, at the hazard of a generation of minds, is a 
matter too serious for trifling. 

What, then, is the spirit of the present age ? What 
are its leading ideas ? How are they affecting edu- 
cation ? And how ought education to affect them ? 
These are questions which it is incumbent upon us to 
ask, and to which we should strive to find the an- 
swers. Though abstractly it is the end in education 
to make men — men pure in heart, strong in mind, 
healthy in body, wise as rulers and obedient as sub- 
jects — yet concretely, as we have just shown, the con- 
dition of the world and all outward relations come 



196 MR. EATES'S LECTURE. 

in to modify general principles and determine the de- 
tails of all plans. "Without attempting to trace the 
history of the changes in society, and to account for 
the diiferences between the present and the past, we 
may saj^, generally, that since the time when Luther 
established for the world the right of individual judg- 
ment in religion, the democratic principles of equality 
have been extending to every department ; and since 
Bacon demonstrated that the true use of philosophy is 
to lighten man's labors, and make subject to him, for 
his happiness, all the powers of nature, utility, in con- 
tradistinction to abstract theory, has been the subject 
of men's inquiries. The prominent ideas of the pres- 
ent age, are equality in all relations, and utility in all 
investigations. 

The peculiar circumstances connected with our na- 
tion's birth, its vast resources and fertile soil, its rapid 
growth, its general distribution of property, the absence 
of aristocratic blood, and the rapid changes in wealth, 
have enabled these ideas to manifest themselves in our 
land with more power than elsewhere. Their effects 
are witnessed in religion, government, education, and 
in all the relations of societv. The fundamental differ- 
ence in education., which they have caused, in compari- 
son with the systems of the ancients, is in inculcating 
that the intellecting powers of all men should be edu- 
cated, and that knowledge should not be restricted to 
any privileged class. There is, however, in man a 
tendency to carry every good thing to extreme, to 
stretch forward to a distant end, w^ithout sufficiently 
considering; the means to attain it — to consider one idea 



THE RELATION OF EDUCATION TO ITS AGE. 197 

sufficient to accomplish all good, without remembering 
the different classes of minds to be actuated, and the 
various interests to be reconciled. The most buoyant 
sailing ship requires the most ballast ; the more power- 
ful the engine, the more need is there of the fly-wheel : 
the more comprehensive a principle, the more efficacious 
its action is, the more reason is there to determine its 
legitimate bounds and to prevent its extremes. The 
accomplishment of this devolves, in a great degree, 
upon the teacher ; and without particularly considering 
the universally acknowledged advantages of the influ- 
ence of these ideas, let us look a little at their radical 
workings, that we may better see if there is danger, 
and more easily provide a remedy. 

There are in the world two great classes, the con- 
servative, and the reformer. The first consists of titled 
men, the rich, of those whose prospects could not be 
bettered by a change. The second, of those born with- 
out rank, destitute of property, yet possessing desires 
both for wealth and station, and eager for any change. 
The former think that whatever is — is right ; the latter 
not only think that all is wrong, but that they have 
discovered the method for setting it right. The former 
think the good things of this life have been wisely dis- 
tributed ; the latter, with levelling views, think the 
aristocracy have usurped the shares of the million ; 
that society, which sanctions the usurpation, is wrong ; 
and that agrarianism is the only perfect social system. 
But, besides these mere selfish extremes, there are 
many noble minds to whom the aggrandizement of self 
is merely incidental to the advancement of truth. And 

10* 



198 MR. BATES'S LECTURE. 

these are so much the more to be feared when wrong ; 
because they are good, because they are sincere, be- 
cause they contend under the banner of rehgion and 
conscience, — for influence Is often proportioned to indi- 
vidual worth, — yet the extremes to which they run are 
often unequalled even by that of the selfish partisan. 
The human mind can bring Itself to believe any thing 
to be right it chooses. Hence the enthusiast often re- 
ceives as truth, that which the well-balanced mind 
perceives to be error. A martyr is not necessarily a 
martyr to truth, only to his idea of truth. Perse- 
cution, indeed, may prove the sincerity of him who 
suffers, but by no means the truth of that for which 
he suffers. The conscientious enthusiast is indeed 
the worker — the man who most influences the masses. 
Yet he is most likely of all to be wrong, or, at least, 
the most likely to carry a good idea to a wrong ex- 
treme — the least safe of all standards. By as much 
as he is an enthusiast, by so much is he no criterion. 
The very powers which make him an enthusiast, com- 
bine to lessen his judgment. Like the war-horse, he 
is mighty in battle ; but he needs a rider, otherwise 
he may trample friend as well as foe ; misdirected, 
he is terrible in his evil. Of this class we have 
in our country great numbers. They see wealth con- 
trasted with poverty, luxury with starvation, despot- 
ism with slavery, talent and education with idiocy and 
ignorance ; in fact, those thousand contrasts which we 
all see, and often sensibly feel, and at which even the 
wisest sometimes murmur. They know not how far 
these contrasts were designed by Providence as trials 



THE RELATION OP EDUCATION TO ITS AGE. 199 

in this state of probation, and consequently must exist, 
and how far thej are the result of the maladministra- 
tion of society. They conceive of them only in relation 
to this world — as preventives to universal happiness ; 
they labor for their annihilation as though they were 
wholly the result of human agency, and disregard the 
caution to beware, " lest haply they be found fighting 
against God." Most of these reformers are one- idea 
men. The evil against which they contend, is the evil ; 
the way they attack it, the y^slj. They can conceive of 
no method of doing good, distinct from their own. 
There are reformers for all the ills that flesh is heir to, 
and they are as zealous as they are numerous. With 
one, it is slavery ; with a second; punishments ; with a 
third, non-resistance ; with a fourth, woman's rights ; 
with a fifth, an indefinite equality — and so on innumer- 
ably, even to the complete dissolution of civil, polit- 
ical and domestic society, and their re-formation upon 
agrarian or Fourieritic principles. The reformers con- 
stitute the most numerous, as well as the most active 
class of our community. They are constantly doing 
many good things, but almost as constantly doing as many 
bad ones. They keep society in a perfect turmoil, yet. 
society could not exist without them, at least could not 
progress. They are the steam of this vast engine, 
civil society. They are the exponents of the demo- 
cratic principle — the mouths through which it speaks. 
The revolutions they produce are attended with a vast 
waste of moral principle, yet many sparks of truth are 
elicited. The extremes to which they rush frequently 
frighten the timid of their own party to the conserva- 



200 MR. BATES'S LECTURE. 

lives, ^'ho are constantly at work, opposing their aristo- 
cratic propensities to the reformers' democratic instincts. 
Besides the leaders in these reforms, there are vast 
numbers who have heard them talk, with restless dis- 
content, understood their views according to the dic- 
tates of a proud heart and ignorant mind, and practised 
upon them with mere selfish ends ; all the while, too, 
deceiving themselves with the idea, that they are work- 
ing for the pubhc good. Repeatedly styled the sove- 
reign people, — taught to consider kings, rulers, legisla- 
tors, and all in high office, as the mere servants of the 
people, entirely subject to their will, the ignorant and 
illiterate often consider themselves equal, in every re- 
spect, to those who have devoted the energies of life to 
the acquisitions of knowledge, — who have ascended the 
hill of literature and science, entered its temple, and 
paid successful offerings at its shrine. They are fed 
with flattery by every political aspirant, demagogue, 
and promulgator of new opinions. What argument 
can you hold with him, whose mind cannot comprehend 
reasoning, who knows not when his pretended argu- 
ments have been shown fallacious, who only repeats 
what has again and again been shown inapplicable, 
whose self-conceit will not allow him to take any thing 
on trust from superior wisdom, and whose final reply to 
every unanswerable argument is, " I have as good a 
right to my opinion as you have to yours." There is 
no pride more conspicuous than the pride of an ignor- 
ant man, " dressed with a httle brief authority.'' With 
shrewd wisdom has a negro head-waiter been styled 



THE RELATION OF EDUCATION TO ITS AGE. 201 

" an ultra aristocrat." A peacock's pride is humility 
in comparison ^vith his. 

The vanity of one gifted with power, is in direct 
ratio to his ignorance. The less one knows, the more 
he thinks he knows ; the less his real importance, the 
greater his fancied. The truly learned man compre" 
hends the infinity of knowledge. He realizes, to an 
extent, the vastness, not only of infinity, but even of 
finite things ; he perceives how meagre is even the 
best of human acquisitions, how little the toil of the 
mightiest mind can accomplish; that man's learning 
is but a drop out of the ocean of knowledge — " the 
pebbles that lie upon its shore;" and he bows himself, 
humble like the little child, before Him to whom in- 
finity is finite, to whom all things are as nothing ! 
The distance between himself and God is so wide, 
his comparative ignorance so great, that he feels him- 
self almost upon a level with the most ignorant, and 
is meek, just according as he is great. But he who 
has no soul, instinctively to suggest the vastness of 
God's creations, and no mind to think out the mysteries 
of life, lives in a narrow world, is wise only in his own 
conceit ; he does not possess enough knowledge to 
know how paltry are his acquisitions. Yet he is fully 
convinced that he knows all things, and is therefore 
just as self complacent as though he really did know 
all things. Though astonished that his greatness is 
not more appreciated, ho consoles himself with the 
thought that all great men are in advance of the age 
in which they live, and that his is another instance 
of unappreciated merit. He considers himself the 



202 MR. BATES'S LECTURE. 

■wisest among men, and is as proud as Lucifer — the 
embodiment of self-satisfaction. Yet his complacency 
does not exalt him, and his pride debases him. Truly 

" A little learning is a dangerous thing." 

Many, through their extravagant ideas of equality, have 
obtained a most exalted idea of human nature. In 
converse to the catechism, they think that God's chief 
end is to glorify man. They conceive of man as a 
piece of Divinity, entitled almost to equal respect mth. 
God ; and each thinks himself the most perfect mani- 
festation. Hence they are dogmatic as theorists, cynical 
as critics, and rebellious as subjects. They believe 
nothing they cannot understand. They take as author- 
ity no man's investigations. They act only in com- 
pliance with -vN'hat they call the promptness of their own 
noble natures. Their self-will, their self-conceit, their 
preconceived notions, they call conscience ; and then 
ask, '' Shall we not obey our heavenly mentor ? " They 
cannot be made see that conscience is not the judge of 
right and wrong, but only that which incites us to do 
the right and shun the wrong, when other powers have 
decided which is the right and which the wrong. 
They will not see, what all the world knows, that the 
leaders in all the atrocities of the Inquisition, in all the 
murders of the Pagan persecution, were sincere men, 
under the guidance of conscience, who thought that 
they were thus doing God service ; or like the Apostle 
Paul, whose conscience told him, '' he ought to do many 
things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. '^ 



THE KELATION OF EDUCATION TO ITS AGE. 203 

They do not see, that if individual judgment is thus to 
be called conscience, and thus inflexibly to be acted 
upon, that not only must all that the world has been so 
long gaining in religious toleration be lost, but that the 
old persecutions must inevitably be revived. Their 
error is not in obeying conscience, but in that which 
precedes this, — in allowing their own self-will to settle 
this or that to be right or wrong, contrary to the 
opinions of those wiser and better than they. 'No man, 
uninspired, has a right to assume to himself such a pre- 
rogative, and say, I am right on all subjects intuitively, 
and you are wrong whenever you disagree with me. 
Even in our highest courts of justice the opinions of the 
judges are not unanimous, yet the decision of the ma- 
jority must be the standard, if there is any thing 
desirable in permanency. Could these men imbue all 
others with their notions, and should all act upon them, 
it must follow that, eventually, individual strength 
would be the final arbiter of right and wrong, and 
every link which binds society together be sundered. 

There are many among us who obey nothing on earth 
or in heaven. Having heard equality, liberty, inde- 
pendence, as household words, from childhood, they 
know not what obedience means. They conceive of it 
only as the property of the slave, — as something degrad- 
ing to independent man. The Bible is to them a good 
book, not because it is the word of God, but because, 
according to their views, it contains much truth, and, 
on the whole, they would recommend some portions of 
it to your serious consideration. Yet only as their 
narrow mind comprehends it, and their perverted judg- 



20J: MR. BATES'S LECTURE. 

ment consents to its teachings, do they receive it. 
Even here they do not ohey^ that is, do not yield sub- 
mission, as authority from one who has a right to com- 
mand. They never, as children, learned to obey, and 
now as men, it is impossible for them to obey either man 
or God. They cannot understand the noble pleasure 
of confiding obedience. Though in science they trust 
implicitly to others, in morals, they consider him a bigot, 
who bases his views upon the investigations and 
thoughts of those wiser than himself. Their only creed 
is, " be good " — " do right." Yet, according to their 
doctrines, that only is right to each one, which seemeth 
right in his own eyes. Thus flattering human nature, 
they have almost imperceptibly influenced every sub- 
ject. We may safely denominate this an excusing age. 
Books are written, which represent Cortez, Pizarro, 
Bonaparte, Benedict Arnold, and even Judas Iscariot, 
eased of the crimes so long laid to their charge. 
" They thought it right," it is said, "to do as they did 
— and therefore it was right." We do not, of course, 
intend to criticise these books here ; we merely intro- 
duce them, to illustrate, that whereas men formerly 
sought to condemn, they now seek to palliate. Whether 
right or wrong, they are the result of this feature of 
the age, and would not be sustained without it. An 
excuse is found now, for every criminal act, or at least 
for the actor. Crime, it is said, is but the legitimate 
fruit of our badly-organized society. False sympathy 
saves many a true criminal, and lightens the punish- 
ment of those who suffer. It is not the man, but his 
insanity, that commits the murder. Many, not tempted 



THE RELATION OF EDUCATION TO ITS AGE. 205 

themselves, sincerely believe that human nature is too 
pure for crime. Beautiful is the theory, but alas for 
its logic ! Says Angelo, when asked to show some 

pity? 

" I show it most of all when I show justice, 
For then I pity those I do not know, 
Which a dismissed oiFence would after gall ; 
And do him right, that, answering one foul wrong. 
Lives not to act another." 

Savs Chief Justice Hale, " Let me remember, when I 
find myself inclined to pity a criminal, that there is 
likewise a pity due to the country." But, poor man, 
he was prejudiced, and not endured with the wisdom of 
our philanthropists. The reformed criminal is the most 
conspicuous member of society. He who has not wal- 
lowed in the gutters of drunkenness, revelled in halls of 
the brothel, or cheated in the hell of the gambler, must 
not expect to be listened to. If he is merely a moral, 
pious man, without criminal experience to confess, he 
must stand aside ; he is too inferior for influence. 

The same spirit extends itself to our schools. The 
dear little creatures of the school-room are pure, not 
yet contaminated by contact with society. They are 
independent, and must be consulted about their rights. 
They are men, without the evils of men. They require 
no government, their own noble impulses will show them 
duty. To be sure, they are sometimes thwarted by 
the unfeeling tyrant, who cannot appreciate their noble 
spirits ; the fault, however, is with the teacher ; the 
evil which he sees in them, is but the reflection of his 



206 MR. BATES'S LECTURE. 

own. Children now are allowed to be too independent, 
both for their present and their future good. Instead 
of being governed, they are consulted ; instead of being 
commanded, they are cheated into compliance. The 
sugar-plum has taken the place of the rod, — both ex- 
tremes, and extremes are always wrong. There is so 
much fear of breaking the child's independent spirit, 
that he is often left uncontrolled, till he rules the 
house, and, in a new sense, " The child is father to the 
man." Says Rousseau, " Mr. Locke's maxim was to 
educate children by reasoning with them, and it is that 
which is now most in vogue. The success of it, how- 
ever, does not appear to recommend it. For my own 
part, I meet with no children so silly and ridiculous as 
those with whom so much argument has been held. Of 
all the faculties of man, that of reason, which is in fact 
only a compound of all the rest, unfolds itself the latest, 
and with the greatest difficulty ; and yet this is what 
we would make use of to develop the first and easiest 
of them. The great end of education is to form a 
reasonable man ; and yet we pretend to educate a child 
by means of reason ! This is beginning where we 
should leave off, and making an implement of the work 
we are about." We see the effects of this want of con- 
trol in the mobs and riots which disgrace our land, and 
in the increasing disregard both for human and divine 
law. If order is heaven's first law, obedience is cer- 
tainly its second. One great object of man's probation, 
is to learn obedience. If he has not learned it, he has 
failed in a grand point — a point, too, doubly important 
under a form of government like ours ; for though we 



THE RELATION OP EDUCATION TO ITS AGE. 207 

are all rulers, " He is not fit to rule who has not learned 
to obej." 

Now, childhood is the time to fix these habits of 
obedience. The child has not that abstract idea of 
equahty, which so much troubles the adult. Deprive 
him of some pleasure, he inquires not whether his rights 
have been infringed upon, but thinks only of the loss of 
the particular gratification. When a creeping infant, 
he was often drawn back from the fire, without having 
his permission asked, and forcibly stopped from many a 
fatal fall, without being consulted as to whether this 
restraint infringed upon his inherent rights. Happily 
for the perpetuity of the human race, ultra-equalitarian 
theories cannot extend quite to infants ; the effect would 
be the total annihilation of all babies ; for the infant, not- 
withstanding the noble promptings of his nature, cannot 
distinguish one foot from twenty, and a fall from a 
chamber-window to learn it would be rather dearly- 
bought experience. But does the change from the long 
gown to the pantaloon give complete wisdom, change 
the infant into the perfect man, knowing every thing, 
wanting no restraint, requiring no government ? Habits 
of obedience must be fixed in childhood, or never. 
Then the child feels his weakness, recognizes the pro- 
tecting care of parent and friends, knows that he does 
not know all things, takes much upon trust without rea- 
soning, is not confused by false abstract notions, — in 
fact, is prepared to yield his own will to the will of him 
whom he respects. This is a plain, practical, common- 
sense question, and should so be considered. Though 
we hope these notions are not so prevalent as formerly, 



208 MR. bates' S LECTURE, 

yet there is much of error still. This is a subject which 
particularly concerns the teacher. We are not doing 
our duty, if we confine ourselves to intellectual educa- 
tion. Our schools are free schools ; they are a part of 
the government ; they are designed, in our system of 
political economy, to do a work in perpetuating our insti- 
tutions. We cannot be too often reminded, that our 
schools are unlike those which the Avorld has ever 
before seen; that those who compose them, occupy a 
different rank from those in a similar relation at any 
other age. Our duty is to train these children up to 
be self-governing citizens, for it is they, to whom the 
destinies of our country are soon to be intrusted. 
Teachers ! we have here a responsibility ; may we real- 
ize it. 

Said Chipman, the member of Congress from Mich- 
igan, in the House of Representatives, " Democracy is 
opposed to education." The remark was made the 
subject of universal ridicule, yet it contains a sober 
truth. It is not, indeed, opposed to a superficial edu- 
cation of the masses ; on the contrary, it is favorable. 
But it is preeminently opposed to high scientific at- 
tainments. Democracies will always be wanting in 
scientific scholarship. Politics will consume the tal- 
ent of the nation. Again, the envy of the ignorant 
equalitarian will produce a prejudice against learned 
men. They often even prefer to employ quacks, — 
quacks in law and theology as well as in medicine. 

It is the second-rate men that make the money and 
influence the mass. The success attendant upon the 



THE RELATION OF EDUCATION TO ITS AGE. 209 

quack advertisements of our papers, and the sophistical 
logic of mere demagogues, is abundant illustration. 

Every man is naturally an aristocrat ; that is, every 
man desires in some way to be first ; and hence level- 
lers exert themselves, rather to pull down those above, 
than to raise those below. There must be rank in 
democracies, as well as in aristocracies. There will be 
a rush for place, and the strife to outstrip the neighbor 
will retard literary cultivation. There are many things 
peculiar to our country, that are exceedingly unfavor- 
able to scientific or literary eminence. The tendency 
to immediate action, is especially opposed to a long 
course of preparatory study. Present expediency is 
preferred to future benefit. To day, not to-morrow, is 
cared for. Selfishness, under the garb of universal 
philanthropy, is omnipresent, whispering, " Let every 
man take care of himself; get money rather than 
knowledge, and get knowledge only as subservient to 
getting money." Science and art are cultivated as a 
means, not as an end. Practical utility is the watch- 
word of American genius ; it is best pleased with that 
which is most immediately advantageous. Polite liter- 
ature, and the abstruse sciences, which have a more 
remote, but equally legitimate tendency to improve the 
arts of life and elevate the tone of society, it declines 
to cultivate ; the attention it bestows upon them is super- 
ficial, — there is no time for thoroughness. With us, all 
is activity and bustle ; restlessness and excitement are 
the prominent characteristics of American mind. The 
high-pressure principle and the labor-saving genius 
of the times, not only enter the province of matter, 



210 MR. BATES'S LECTURE. 

but also manifest themselves in the department of 
mind. The aspiring scholar, before he is prepared by 
strict mental discipline to act with efficiency and to 
exert a wide and healthful influence upon society, is 
beguiled from the tranquil pursuits of literature, to 
engage in the more animating scenes of active life. 
Politics presents the allurements of power. Hence for 
one devotee of science, for one scholar of profound eru- 
dition, we have thousands of politicians. They come 
upon us in clouds and armies, like the locusts of Egypt 
upon the green fields, and often their effects are 
as devastating. 

The whole tendency of things, is, to make the super- 
ficial scholar, the superficial thinker, and, consequently, 
a community of superficial men, dangerous even as 
subjects, much more so as independent rulers. 

To this state of things, there must be some counter- 
poise instituted, some balance-power established ; — 
there must be a check to this rush and push. We have 
power in abundance, but it is physical instead of men- 
tal ; or rather it is the power of action in contradistinc- 
tion from the power of thought. The child imbibes 
the spirit of those around. Unless he can learn quick- 
ly, he does not wish to learn at all. Education is now 
expected to go by steam. Our colleges, academies 
and common schools are considered so many mills at 
which an indefinite amount of knowledge is daily to be 
ground out, and distributed indiscriminately to all ap- 
plicants. The characteristic speculation of the Yankee 
extends even to education. He wishes to get it cheap, 
— to drive a good bargain with Nature herself. Seeing 



THE RELATION OF EDUCATION TO ITS AGE. 211 

the wonderful improvements and rapid progress in the 
outward condition of things, he expects the same rapid- 
ity in intellectual progress. The fallacy is in not distin- 
guishing between mind and matter. 

Matter has no individuality ; it is divisible, it loses 
its identity, and may change into a thousand shapes. 
It is a part of this to-day, and a part of that to-mor- 
row — 

" Imperious Csesar dead, and turned to clay, 
Might stop a hole to keep the wind away." 

Matter has no will ; it is the servant of mind, becom- 
ing whatever mind wishes it. One generation may 
begin to work matter where the last left off. 

But mind is individual ; it is a unit — always one. 
It exists within itself, and must work out its own dis- 
tinct, separate existence. Every mind must begin 
anew from the same starting-place, and travel its jour- 
ney for itself. Matter affects only the outward, perish- 
able condition of man. It is in and from the mind 
that he receives his character, — his never-dying self. 
Matter is made for this world, and here is its only state 
of existence. But this earth is only the prohation of 
mind ; its real existence begins in eternity. Mind will 
admit within its province no labor-saving machines, no 
matter-moulding tools. The different constitutions of 
mind and matter forbid the same mode of treatment. 
Nature is stronger than systems ; and though vain, 
complacent man may treat them as identical, and cheat 
himself into the belief that he has succeeded in his 
attempt, when he awakes to his senses, he will find that 



212 MR. BATES'S LECTURE. 

[N'ature cannot be perverted, that mind cannot lose Its 
identity or be made subject to the laws of matter. 

We are often led into wrong estimates bj not distin- 
guishing the faculties which it is the special aim of 
education to draw out. The Perceptive faculties are 
developed sooner than the Reflective. Children learn 
more by observing than by reflecting, sooner by experi- 
ment than by theory, and therefore illustrations drawn 
from things, visible objects, will have more eSect upon 
the youthful mind than the clearest mathematical truth. 
But intellectual education concerns itself chiefly with 
the development of the reflective faculties ; for the per- 
ceptive develop themselves, and merely take their 
direction from the development, or want of develop- 
ment, of the reflective ; or rather, I would say, man is 
so constituted, that whether placed upon the island or in 
the midst of the city, the objects of nature ivill act 
upon the senses, and thereby cause a development of 
the perceptive faculties. Nothing can prevent their 
development, but dark, solitary imprisonment, pre- 
cluding all action of the senses. Education, or no 
education, as we commonly understand the term, has 
no efiect in causing or preventing this development, 
but only in directing as to the mode of development. 
Thus the perceptive faculties of the uneducated man 
may be fully developed and always at work, but only 
on objects of sense. The uneducated may travel side 
by side with the educated — will perceive as many, 
probably more things than his companion, but of a dif- 
ferent class. He will tell only, on his return, of par- 
ticular horses, or coaches, or styles of harnesses, the odd 



THE RELATION OF EDUCATION TO ITS AGE. 213 

mode of dress, the strange kind of food ; and in such 
details, is always ready with a story of personal adven- 
ture. His perceptive faculties were fully developed 
and always at work. But, since the reflective were not 
developed, and did not come in to generalize, classify 
and direct in the selection of facts, the things observed 
were of a character not calculated to afford food to the 
reflective faculties, but were mere perceptions peculiar 
to themselves, and such as are exemplified to us in the 
conversation of the talkative, uneasy, uneducated man. 
The gossip is the legitimate production of the exclusive 
development of the perceptive faculties. 

A few years ago, a new educational theory was put 
in practice. Infant schools sprang up on all sides, and 
" The Infant Philosophy," " Infant Astronomy," and 
the infant every thing, sprang up as accompaniments ; 
and soon the little child of four years old, with magic 
lore discoursed most eloquently upon the mysteries of 
all natural science. Visitors, in amazement at the 
knowledge of these little twaddling prodigies, predicted 
a generation of mighty minds, such as the world had 
never seen. That generation, however, has reached 
its manhood, without displaying any of those extraordi- 
nary powers which its infancy seemed to promise, and 
the deceptive Infant School has perished, — a total failure. 
The examination of the infant school did indeed seem 
wonderful. According to previous systems of educa- 
tion, adults could not answer the questions, as did these 
infants, without much other knowledge and much deep 

reflection. Men, therefore, thought that these infant 
II 



214 MR. BATES'S LECTURE. 

minds had the maturity of adult years. Of two won- 
ders, they thought it less strange that the infant mind 
should comprehend subjects requiring so deep reflection, 
than that, understanding nothing about them, they 
should talk thus learnedly. But it seems to me that 
the anomaly may be easily accounted for, and be use- 
ful in showing to us how early the perceptive faculties 
are developed, and how versatile they are in their 
action. Here those ideas, which were properly the 
object of the reflective faculties alone, were diluted, 
explained, illustrated and compared, until they came 
within the reach of the perceptive faculties ; were re- 
ceived by the child merely as perceptions, like objects 
of sense, and were thus understood and talked of by 
him. Principles were not received by the mind, but 
only illustrations committed to memory. Abstraction 
and generalization had no place here. Particulars, in 
contradistinction from generals, were all the mind could 
grasp. Whilst the very fact that the reflective powers 
did not come in to arrest the action of the perceptive, 
causing doubts to arise, seeking reasons, arranging and 
classifying facts, and thereby requiring time for thought, 
was really advantageous in this show of knowledge ; 
for readiness in reply pleases, rather than though tful- 
ness. The hearer of the pupil's examination, not hav- 
ing witnessed the diluting process, having received 
these ideas himself through the reflective faculties, and 
not noticing, among the many correct answers of the 
pupil, the occasional nonsensical reply, (which really 
showed his complete ignorance of the whole matter,) 



THE RELATION OF EDUCATION TO ITS AGE. 215 

supposed the child understood the subject as he himself 
did, was therefore misled in reference to the discipline 
of the child's reflective powers, and, naturally enough, 
was astonished at his display of learning. 

There was, however, soon a cessation in this apparent 
progress of the child. For to a limited extent only could 
the perceptive faculties be made, even apparently, to 
usurp the province of the reflective ; and the child in 
due time received, as did his father before him, 
through the only legitimate powers by which they 
could be received, those ideas, about and around 
which he had often talked, but of which, he had had 
no knowledge. 

I do not know that any injury was done to the de- 
velopment of the perceptive faculties by this method of 
education ; for they were perhaps as well exercised 
thus as upon subjects of sense alone — that is, upon ob- 
jects used in their primary signification, and not as the 
signs of ideas. But certainly it was lost labor, for there 
could be no gain. It was, however, injurious upon the 
mind generally, by its deceptive feature, causing both 
parent and child to form a wrong estimate of the 
amount and character of the pupil's knowledge. Thus 
the flattered parent urged on the child in the same 
mode of procedure ; whilst the pupil, either deceiving 
himself with the idea that he was a learned scholar, 
grew up a conceited character upon all subjects without 
understanding any ; or, on the other hand, bursting the 
fetters which had bound his mind, slowly undeceiving 
himself, and realizing how vague were all his ideas, 



216 MR. BATES'S LECTURE. 

painfully unlearning what he had been for years com- 
mitting, in spite of the trammels which surrounded him, 
made himself, what Nature designed him to be, a true 
man. Would that this system had fallen into disuse 
when the failure of the " Infant School " demonstrated 
its absurdity ! But the spirit of the age favors it ; its 
effects are not so plainly detected in adults as in young 
children ; the pride of parent and teacher is gratified 
by the ready reply of the pupil, his varied knowledge, 
and his ease and familiarity in talking about learned 
subjects ; all these combine to prevent its banishment 
from our academies and common schools. 

The opposite extreme, — committing to memory 
words, without any explanation, is, of the two, to be 
preferred ; for then the fact or the statement of the 
principle remains, and after-reflection explains them. 
In this extreme, the fact is never remembered, and an 
incorrect or vague idea takes the place of the true 
one, deceiving the holder into the supposition that he 
understands the whole subject. There is no thought in 
either extreme, and, therefore, so far as discipline is 
concerned, no value. 

The happy medium is as valuable, as it is difficult to 
find. Ideas must be presented to the child beyond his 
comprehension, otherwise the reflective faculties will 
have no stimulus to action, but not too complex, for then 
these undisciplined faculties have no power to act, and 
the memory alone is exercised. Many abstruse points 
must be explained and familiarly illustrated, but care 
must be taken lest they be so illustrated as to be re- 



THE RELATION OF EDUCATION TO ITS AGE. 217 

ceived only as perceptions, and thus fail of their legiti- 
mate effect. This method may indeed be useful in one 
branch of education, — instruction, — the giving to the 
pupil information with reference to some kinds of knowl- 
edge. Yet we must bear in mind that nine-tenths of 
the things learned at school are soon forgotten, are of 
little practical benefit, and seldom made use of by the 
pupil in the common transactions of life. Principles 
are extensive in their application, comprehending an 
infinitude of relations, the species of fact useful in prac- 
tical life. He, therefore, who understands and remem- 
bers principles, has ever at command, in small compass, 
thousands of things, many more than the memory could 
ever contain. Information is valuable only as we can 
use it. The difference between the educated and the 
uneducated, is not so much in their amount of knowl- 
edge as in their command of knowledge, their power in 
using and applying what they know. ^ 

Says Rousseau, " Trace the progress of the most 
ignorant of mortals from his birth to the present hour, 
and you will be astonished at the knowledge he has 
acquired. If we divide all human science into two 
parts, the one consisting of that which is common to all 
men, and the other of what is peculiar to the learned, 
the latter will appear insignificant and trifling in com- 
parison with the other." It matters not so much ivJiat 
we learn as how we learn. Words are not wanted, but 
ideas ; or rather the power of originating ideas. The 
learned is far inferior to the disciplined mind. This 
method may take the glib talker, for the perceptive 



218 MR. bates' S LECTURE. 

powers act quickly, and the result of their action is 
easily expressed. But the reflective require time, both 
for action and expression. But since, in this hurrying 
age, stopping to think cannot be endured, the recitation 
of the scholar and the examination of the school, where 
the perceptive faculties have been chiefly appealed to, 
is frequently overrated, while that of the pupil or 
school where the reflective faculties have been disci- 
plined, is as frequently underrated. This extreme 
makes the superficial scholar ; is as deceitful as it is 
flattering, and should be especially guarded against by 
the teacher. 

"We have thus endeavored to show that Education has 
been, in turn, both the cause and the consequence of 
the condition of the world in all ages. We have spoken 
of two governing principles of action of the present age, 
and of some of the ways in which they are afiecting 
education. We have, indeed, presented them in their 
worst features, and considered only the dangers that 
are to be feared from their extremes. We regret that 
time will not permit us to consider the other side, and 
to show that it is chiefly due to the prevalence of these 
principles, that our country has taken the rank which 
she has among nations, and that our people may boast 
of possessing more of the requisites for universal happi- 
ness than any other. For we do not wish to be classed 
with those who fear every thing and hope nothing. 
We have much faith in the educated common sense of 
the people, in the strong conservative power which 
underlies the wild vagaries that we fear, and which is 



THE RELATION OP EDUCATION TO ITS AGE. 219 

silently, but we trust effectually, counteracting extreme 
radicalism. Yet, after all, much depends upon the 
next generation, and much of their character depends 
upon the influences of the school-room. And we shall 
not have spoken in vain to-day, if we shall cause a 
single teacher to think more seriously of his part in this 
w^ork. 

If the coming generation shall be taught to think, if 
they shall be made to realize that liberty is not synony- 
mous with lawlessness, nor equality with agrarianism ; 
that men are born with different capacities ; that respect 
is to be paid to talent, scholarship, and wisdom ; that 
reverence is due to the experience of age ; that obe- 
dience is to be given to something besides their own 
dictates, — then may we hope that the result of the 
experiment which we are now trying, will not be added 
to the long list of failures which stain the pages of our 
history, and shake our confidence in man, but that we 
shall go on, giving an unimpeachable example of man's 
true power in self-government, spreading a benignant 
light, whose mild rays shall gently fall even upon the 
farthest nation, hastening that promised time when all 
mankind shall be at peace with each other, loving and 
being loved ; when heaven itself shall be brought down 
to earth. 

Would we give to our people intellectual education, 
then must we teach our youth to think, then must we 
despise the showy farces of superficial teaching, then 
must we cherish thorough instruction, severe discipline. 
Yet must we remember, that the failures in republican- 



220 MR. bates' S LECTURE. 

ism have not been caused by failures in intellectual 
strength, but by the destitution of moral Christian prin- 
ciples. Religion is the only safeguard of Liberty. 
Whenever Liberty has deigned to dwell with us on 
earth, Religion has been her attendant spirit. 

" Where she came, 
There Freedom came ; where she dwelt, there Freedom dwelt ; 
Ruled where she ruled, expired where she expired." 



LECTURE YL 

THE RELATION OE COMMON SCHOOLS 
TO HIGHER SEMINARIES. 

BY. CHAKLES HAMMOND. 

The system of common or free schools, so generally 
prevalent in this country, is mentioned with praise in 
all lands. It has conferred a most honorable distinction 
on that section of the American Union, where primary 
schools for the training of all the children and youth of 
the State, at the public expense, were first established, 
and where, from the first, they have been sustained with 
a constantly increasing interest. 

It is to the lasting honor of New England, that, with 
so many of the elements of her most ancient institutions, 
this principle of universal, popular education, has been 
infused into the national character. 

The fathers of New England were fortunate, in their 

efforts to found an empire to become the home of a free 

people, and they were fortunate, also, above all other 

founders of new states, in their clear apprehension, 

from the first, of the grand features of a policy which 

would prevail, when their infant institutions should be- 
ll* 



222 MR. Hammond's lecture. 

come vigorous and mature. They founded a new and 
noble empire, and designated the true methods of 
making that empire immortal. 

Fully aware that new systems of civil and church 
polity impHed, as an absolute condition of success, great 
" maturity of reason," and high public morality, they 
aimed to instruct both the people and the teachers of 
the people in the best manner possible. Thus would 
the commonwealth be furnished with wise counsellors, 
and the churches, with learned pastors ; and the people 
would be able to understand their public teachers, and 
judge for themselves of the conduct of all their public 
servants. 

Their efforts grew out of their firm convictions that 
the truth for which they had suffered so much, and con- 
tended for with so much success, would make free, even 
as they themselves were free, both their own descend- 
ants and all who should embrace it. They were well 
acquainted with all the forms and results of European 
civilization, and they had abandoned them in hope of 
*' a better country." They most highly prized the 
schools and universities of the Old World, for their 
leading statesmen and pastors had enjoyed all the ad- 
vantages of those seats of learning, and it was by means 
of the mental training thus received, that their own 
views of civil polity and religious doctrine were formed, 
and they were thus enabled, afterwards, to establish 
.wisely and judiciously the foundations of a new State. 

Knowing that they themselves must pass away, and 
leave to others their labors unfinished, they saw that 
their own great conceptions, and their own far-sighted 



COMMON SCHOOLS AND HIGHER SEMINARIES. 223 

policy would be poorly transmitted to future ages by 
tradition. They knew the utter impossibility of main- 
taining a commonwealth after their model, if the people 
were ignorant, or swayed by brute passion. Their 
rulers must be men of enlightened wisdom, whilst both 
the rulers and the people must be alike submissive to 
the restraints of Christian morality. And, therefore, 
as the author of the first written history* of Harvard 
College has told us, " For some little while, there were 
very hopeful effects of the pains taken by certain men 
of great worth and skill, to bring up some in their own 
private families for public services. But much of un- 
certainty and of inconveniency in this way, was in that 
little time discovered ; and they soon determined that 
set schools are so necessary, that there is no doing 
without them. Wherefore a college must now be 
thought upon — a college, the best thing New England 
ever thought upon." 

Thus did they found their University, and every 
where, in all the settlements, as soon as comfortable 
habitations had been provided for themselves, the house 
of public worship and the house for public instruction 
arose simultaneously, thus showing the inseparable con- 
nection in the minds of the earliest colonists, between 
their religious and educational institutions, and the life 
of their infant commonwealths. 

The system of popular education in New England 
was one which aimed at more than to meet the wants 
of the first generations by whom it was established. It 

* Mather's Magnalia, Book 3. 



224 MR. Hammond's lecture. 

•was a system "wisely adapted to all the changes of 
growth and progress, from the feeblest beginnings to 
the full vigor and maturity of the national life. In the 
year 1647, eleven years after the foundation of Harvard 
College, it was ordered " To the end that learning may 
not be buried in the graves of the fathers, that every 
township, after the Lord hath increased them to the 
number of fifty households, shall appoint one to teach all 
children to read and write, and when any town shall 
increase to the number of one hundred families, they 
shall set up a Grammar School, the masters thereof 
being able to instruct youth so far as that they may be 
fitted for the University." 

This order of the legislature of Massachusetts will be 
immortal in the annals of popular education. It de- 
serves to share the honors of the Declaration of Inde- 
pence, and of the Charter of Runnymede, in the history 
of popular liberty. The renown of this order is not owing 
solely to its aim to secure universal education in the 
rudiments of learning. It is no less celebrated for its 
full conception of the gradation system. The grade 
system, the great desideratum of the present time, is 
not a modern improvement. Its origin belongs to the 
earliest age of our history. Like the fabled Minerva, 
it sprang to life at once in perfect form and panoply. 
It was the glory of the Puritans to have originated a 
system of universal education, with a perfect method. 
It was the disgrace of later times, that this method was 
so generally abandoned. With all that is said, at this 
day, in favor of a gradation of schools, we can hardly 
hope that the ancient system will be so fully appro- 



COMMON SCHOOLS AND HIGHER SEMINARIES. 225 

hended in its first intention, and so energetically 
adopted, that every town with " a hundred families," 
shall maintain a " Grammar " or High School, " the 
masters thereof being able to instruct youth so far as 
they may be fitted for the University." When that 
day shall come, which shall witness the full realization 
of the perfect method of the Puritans, it will be under- 
stood better than it now is, that grades of schools, from 
the highest to the lowest, arise naturally from the urgent 
wants of the community ; that each claims the popular 
smypathy and support ; that each contributes essentially 
to the efficiency of the entire system of public instruc- 
tion ; and that all are alike connected with the vital 
interests of the Commonwealth. 

The Fathers of New England paid but little regard 
to the forms of European society, when they formed 
their civil constitutions. They looked with still less 
favor upon most of the systems of Church polity be- 
longing to the Old World. They thought the tri-fold 
distinction of orders and officers in the Christian church, 
though ancient, was yet unscriptural. They merged 
the titles and duties of a bishop, presbyter, and deacon, 
into those of a pastor of a laity church. But, in their 
system of public education for the entire people, we 
find three grades of officers and three orders of teachers 
clearly developed. These distinctions will remain, so 
long as the genuine Puritanism of New England is in a 
thriving condition. It is an unpardonable misnomer, to 
regard the Universities and the intermediate Academies 
and Seminaries as aristocratic, rather than popular, in 
their aims and tendencies. The mind that cherishes 



226 MR. Hammond's lecture. 

this prejudice has yet to learn the true relations of the 
system of public instruction to the social life and char- 
acter of a New England community. 

We may, therefore, with confidence claim the admi- 
ration of the world for the New England system of 
popular education. It is the earliest ever devised 
which claims to be universal, and yet it is one of the 
most successful. It is still in the full vigor of youth, 
though it be among the oldest of our ancient insti- 
tutions. Its results are witnessed in what we are, as a 
free and mighty people. And on the same foundation 
do we rest our hopes of what we may become. 

In very recent times, systems of popular instruction 
have been formed in other lands, and much has been 
said in praise of their success. Some of them have had 
their origin in countries where the manners of the 
people, and, indeed, their whole social organization dif- 
fers entirely from our own. They have aimed to ele- 
vate the lower classes of society in Europe, and on that 
ground, certainly deserve the sympathy and respect of 
America. Let honor be paid to those who originated 
them, and to the enlightened statesmen who applied 
them. 

In these days, when the eyes of the world are watch- 
ing, with intense interest, the popular revolutions of Con- 
tinental Europe, the results of popular education should 
be noticed in those countries where so much has been 
done to disseminate elemental instruction during the last 
twenty-five years. Let, also, all the methods of instruc- 
tion be carefully examined by such as would improve 
the schools of our own land. Whatever illustrates the 



COMMON SCHOOLS AND HIGHER SEMINARIES. 227 

philosophy of popular education ; whatever pertains to 
the hest methods of teaching and school management ; 
whatever contributes to the elevation of teaching as an 
honorable profession, should be greeted with entire 
liberality, though coming from a foreign land. As the 
Romans, when masters of the world, hesitated not to 
imitate the arms of their vanquished foes wherein they 
surpassed their own, so should we never deem it dis- 
honorable to adopt improvements, let them come from 
what source they may. At the same time, let not a 
blind admiration of foreign systems of education cause 
us to forget that we have a system of our own, with 
features strongly marked as American ; a system long 
and successfully tried. Especially should the aims and 
tendencies of the various systems be compared. The 
most complete educational processes applied under the 
most favorable circumstances, will not transform, in a 
single generation, the manners and sentiments of an 
entire people, into those of a people different in tempera- 
ment, and having a different destiny. The forms of 
government throughout Europe may be revolutionized ; 
the thrones of every monarch may share the fate of 
that of Louis Philippe, but the French or German 
republican will not therefore resemble a citizen of the 
United States, save only in the feeHng of hostility to 
monarchy. Political revolutions may affect greatly the 
foreign relations of a people ; but when an entire change 
is made in all the educational influences which form the 
character of the rising generation, then the very life of 
the nation is affected. The old nation dies, and a new 
empire is born. 



228 ME. Hammond's lecture. 

In this transition period, therefore, when we know 
not what a day may bring forth as to the stability and 
character of the oldest and most influential European 
nations, it becomes us to watch with jealousy, the ten- 
dencies of these new movements on the character and 
fortunes of our own people. And when modes and 
systems of education are presented for our adoption, 
with the assurance that they have worked well in foreign 
countries, we should look at the ultimate designs of 
those systems where they originated, and ascertain 
whether they conflict with the great ends of the Ameri- 
can system of popular education. Nothing marks the 
whole structure of American society more than the 
perfect supremacy of the principle of adaptation, which 
is made the test of every thing claiming to be useful. 
Let this test be applied to every proposed modification 
of the American system of education that comes from a 
foreign land. 

This censorship, be it ever so rigidly applied, will not 
delay the progress of real improvement. It will not tend 
to lower, at all, the standard of attainments, or diminish 
the activity of the pupils, in any of our literary institu- 
tions. In these respects, our predecessors have never 
laid any claim to perfection, — and there is yet to be 
reached a limit not discerned by our eyes, in the prog- 
ress of improvement. This certain fact does not, 
therefore, render it less necessary to search for the true 
aims of those who have gone before us. They have 
done that which entitles them to the gratitude of all 
their descendants. They have committed to us the 
completion of a work not yet accomplished, though per- 



COMMON SCHOOLS AND HIGHEE SEMINARIES. 229 

feet in its design ; like the building of the ancient 
cathedral of Cologne, needing generations and centuries 
even yet, perhaps, to complete the original plan. 

But we do not claim more for our predecessors than 
is actually their due ? How can we presume to speak 
with respect of the schools and modes of instruction, 
belonging even to recent periods in our history ? It is 
thought proper to extol the virtues and wisdom of our 
fathers for what they did in the cause of civil liberty 
and religious freedom, but in all that pertains to the 
management of schools and methods of teaching, the 
present age is so much in advance of former times, that 
we must say, — 

" Let the dead past bury its dead." 

We recur not to the past, with feelings of regard, be- 
cause we think the former days were better than these, or 
by any means equal in respect to means and facilities for 
instruction. For every grade of schools in this country 
has exhibited most surprising marks of progress in all 
that pertains to the machinery of education. " It is 
wonderful," said President Woolsey in his inaugural 
address, " what improvements have been made in colle- 
giate instruction during the last twenty-nine years," the 
period of President Day's administration at Yale Col- 
lege. The standard of attainments in the preparatory 
schools has advanced in proportion, so that the amount 
of classical study now prescribed at Andover and 
Exeter to candidates for the Freshmen classes of Har- 
vard and Yale, is greater than that required of graduates 
at those Colleges, twenty-five or thirty years since. 



230 MR. Hammond's lecture. 

And common schools, in the days of the Revolution, in 
respect to external appearances, would compare, we 
presume, with the same grade of schools in our times, 
much in the same way that the plain side-board of 
General Washington compares with the princely furni- 
ture which surrounds it in the east room of the Presi- 
dent's palace. 

But if the essential institutions of society were simple 
and unobtrusive in the first days of the Republic, and if 
there was little to attract the attention of those ac- 
customed to the conveniences and refinements of modern 
modes of life, still, those times were adorned with the 
presence of shining virtues and noble men. The facili- 
ties of these days were not then enjoyed, and yet a 
noble race was trained for great deeds. Their means 
were Hmited, but the great end and uses of learning 
were well understood, and therefore the fruits of instruc- 
tion were abundant. 

When questions of political philosophy or of church 
polity are discussed, it is usual to refer to ancient cus- 
toms and constitutions, not for the purpose of imitating 
external forms now grown obsolete, but to search for the 
original elemental principles of truth which gave vitality 
to the old forms, and still live in those that superseded 
them. 

Can nothing be learned in the philosophy of popular 
education, — its proper uses and ends in such a country 
as this, from the study of a system as ancient as the 
settlement of the country ? Cannot something be 
learned of the mutual relations of each grade of our 
schools to each other, and how they stand connected 



COMMON SCHOOLS AND HIGHER SEMINARIES. 231 

with the welfare and glory of the Commonwealth, hy the 
study of a system of public instruction which dates back 
to Plymouth Eock for its origin, and which has been 
sustained ever since, with unwavering constancy and 
with an ever-growing interest ? 

It is very true that literary institutions of every grade 
in this country differ very much from the schools of 
Europe, although they may be called by the same 
name. Thus we have as yet no institutions which can 
properly be regarded as Universities after the European 
model. Indeed, it is doubted by many whether institu- 
tions modelled after the English or German Universities 
will ever be established in this country. We think 
that, in the mature ages of American civilization, there 
will be found on this soil institutions of learning which 
will be equal in respectability to those of the Old 
World, but in their internal character and modes of 
administration they will be American and not European. 

The same will be true of all the lower grades of 
schools. The conditions and circumstances of the pupils 
being very dissimilar in different countries, there must 
be different standards of attainment, and a call for 
variety in methods of teaching and discipline. If this 
rule were observed when comparisons are instituted 
between the schools of the Old World and the New, 
there would be less of that wholesale disparagement of 
our higher seminaries which we sometimes hear, because 
they are unlike, or inferior to, the Universities of 
Oxford or Cambridge. 

So, on the other hand, if the principle of adaptation 
should be observed, there would be less tendency to 



232 MR. Hammond's lecture, 

discard institutions properly and naturally American. 
Let Paris rule, as hitherto, the fashions of the civilized 
world, if she must. Let her pride herself in the exer- 
cise of a power, whose monthly mandates all our repub- 
lican tailors and mantua-makers tremble to disobey ; but 
why must we follow the speculations of French republi- 
cans, or socialists, as genuine philosophy ? Why bow 
with so much reverence to theories of social and politi- 
cal life whose local habitation is in the Cloud Land of 
German transcendentalism ? The ready credence given 
to many foreign theories of education, and the earnest 
efifort to realize them, by introducing them into our 
institutions, at the same time discarding what is prop- 
perly the growth of our own soil, proves any thing but 
a free and independent spirit. The position we occupy, 
the destiny we are to accomplish, one would think, 
might teach us what a truly noble and proud people 
would not be slow to learn. 

Whilst it is most evident that the facilities for gaining 
knowledge have greatly increased, and improvements 
have been made in all our schools of every grade, are 
we quite sure that an apprehension clear and definite 
in proportion to the amount of these facilities and im- 
provements prevails as to the proper uses of learning, 
and its relations to the wants of society ? It is no dis- 
paragement to modern improvements, to say, that, if 
our predecessors did not enjoy our advantages for 
acquiring learning, they did very clearly appreciate 
its proper and highest ends. 

For the very reason that their means were limited, 
and the processes of acquisition expensive and toilsome, 



COMMON SCHOOLS AND HIGHER SEMINARIES. 233 

they miglit, perhaps, be less liable to mistake the means 
of learning for the ends, and be less likely to allow the 
show of mere knowledge to take the place of sound 
wisdom and true intellectual culture. And, most cer- 
tainly, it was because the relations of learning to the 
actual wants of society in New England were clearly 
seen, that even the scanty means of our fathers were 
so productive of useful results, and that schools which 
would now be deemed comparatively poor, became to 
former generations a priceless blessing. 

It is often a theme for pleasantry to hold up for the 
amusement of the young, the rude apparatus of instruc- 
tion made use of no longer ago than the memory of the 
" oldest inhabitant," and which was entirely satisfactory 
to the scholars of those days, because nothing better 
could be had. And we meet with these amusing con- 
trasts elsewhere than in lectures on the best methods of 
constructing and ventilating school-rooms. The shades 
of President Stiles, and the Dominie Sampsons of " sixty 
years since," are not allowed to repose quietly on Com- 
mencement festivals and College Alumni meetings. 

And if half a century has wrought such changes, 
what shall be thought of the schools and teachers of 
still more primitive times ? History is not wholly 
silent respecting the schools and colleges of the first 
ages of New England. We have heard of Master 
Ezekiel Cheever, the "father of Connecticut school- 
masters," who early settled in New Haven Colony, and 
died at the age of ninety-four, having been a " skilful, 
painful, and faithful schoolmaster for seventy years." 
It seems that teaching, even in those days, was a 



234 MR. Hammond's lecture. 

" regular profession." Clieever wrote an " Accidence"," 
a famous school-book in its day, he thus being the first, 
so far as we know, among the New England school- 
masters, to write his own text-book of instruction, — an 
example very early set, which many of the best teachers 
of our times seem so ambitious to imitate. 

Cotton Mather, in his Magnalia, has mentioned one 
Nathaniel Eaton, the teacher of the first grammar 
school in Cambridge, which, under his successor, Presi- 
dent Dunster, was honored with the name of a College. 
Being somewhat avaricious and extensively severe in 
school discipline, and finally having apostatized from the 
Puritans, and become an Episcopalian, Mather says, 
that, " he was a blade who marvellously deceived the ex- 
pectations of good men concerning him, and yet he was 
a rare scholar, and made many more such, though they 
were taught in the school of Tyrannus." 

It may, perhaps, be soberly thought by some, that 
the schools and teachers of the first generations were of 
no real service. Placed by the side of the schools of 
this age of steam and electricity, it may be asked, how 
could such meagre foundations, such rude apparatus, 
and such wretched text-books, have served any valuable 
ends ? Surely our " patent modes of teaching," our 
beautiful apparatus and spacious school edifices, our 
text-books of such rare excellence, and in such profu- 
sion, that a new work on every science is published 
every quarter, must all have sprung at once, from a 
perfect chaos of ignorance. It cannot be possible, that 
this glorious, cheap school-book era, when every printing 
house has its " book agent," and *' many run to and 



COMMON SCHOOLS AND HIGHER SEMINARIES. 205 

fro," and " knowledge " is increased, can be, in any 
■way, related to the former barbaric ages. So far as 
regards the present condition or future glory of the 
American people, would it not really have been about 
as well, if Harvard and Yale had each been founded 
at least a century later in their respective Common- 
wealths ? 

It does, however, appear to be a fact attested by 
veritable history, that New England, at least prior to 
the Revolution, was a land famous for its free schools : 
that at that time, the foundations of a great nation were 
laid by a people unsurpassed in the world for their 
general intelligence, and that, even then, the system of 
education which is now our boast, had existed for 
generations, and had been sustained without the aid of 
Boards of Education or other useful agencies now em- 
ployed for the advancement of learning. 

The Puritans did more than devise an excellent theo- 
ry of popular education. They did more than to trans- 
mit to after ages the record of a well-meant endeavor. 
They actually reduced their immortal conception to a 
historic reality. Not in some Utopian model of a re- 
public, but in their earliest constitutions do we find this 
principle recognized, — a principle never before recog- 
nized, — that every person is born with the right of in- 
struction ; that if parents or guardians fail to fulfil their 
duty in relation to the natural claim of their children 
for instruction, they shall be educated directly by the 
state. 

Nor did the Puritans deem the common school suffi. 
cient, in their great endeavor to form a free and enlight- 



236 MR. Hammond's lecture. 

ened commonwealth. Their system embraced the "gram- 
mar school " * and college, as no less essential than the 
primary schools. This was the ancient theory. It 
ought to be the modern theory. 

A system so vitally interwoven in all its paHs, should 
never be so separated as to leave the interests of the 
higher or lower grades of schools to the care and sym- 
pathies of different classes of the community. The 
higher cannot dispense with the lower ; the lower can 
never be so much improved, that the higher may be dis- 
pensed with. Let the college, therefore, never fail to 
fulfil its popular functions ; nor should any theory of 
common school education, which excludes the principle 
of an intimate and vital relation of dependence upon 
the higher seminaries, be for a moment sanctioned. 

We sometimes hear it said, with apparent seriousness, 
that the common school is " the people's college :" as 
though this were any thing but an abuse of language, 
and the grossest error as to the true idea of a college. 
Still more frequently is the idea thrown out by Jacobin- 
ical editors and flippant demagogues, that colleges and 
higher seminaries exist for the benefit of a favored class, 
and are, therefore, aristocratic, rather than popular, in 
their tendencies. Incalculable mischief is the result of 
these most dangerous errors ; for they tend greatly to 
diminish the proper influence of the higher seminaries, 

* The term " grammar school " during the first century and a 
half of our history, meant a " classical " school. The word 
Academy has not been used in New England, in its present sense, 
much longer than seventy-five years. The word " Seminary " 
is quite recent. 



COMMON SCHOOLS AND HIGHER SEMINARIES. 237 

to weaken the sympatliy of the public in their favor, 
and to create a prejudice against such as enjoy their 
advantages. On the other hand, the most extravagant 
notions, and the wildest experiments in relation to popu- 
lar education, are countenanced. Thus these professed 
advocates of universal education labor utterly to sub- 
vert all the ends our ancestors wished to secure, when 
they established their system of free schools. 

Until a recent period, the true relation of depend- 
ence of the lower institutions upon the higher was every 
where admitted, even in the popular mind. The fathers 
cherished the college with their warmest sympathies, 
and, in proportion to their means, with liberal contribu- 
tions.- On the other hand, there went forth from the 
Universities and higher seminaries, the strongest im- 
pulses in favor of popular education. If the mutual re- 
lations of the higher and lower seminaries be looked at 
historically, it will be found that progressive movements 
have always begun in the former. The elevation of 
the standard of admission to the colleges has been fol- 
lowed by a corresponding advancement in the course 
of instruction in academies and in high schools. Better 
furnished candidates being thus prepared for the learned 
professions, and for the business of teaching, a quick- 
ened activity is thus imparted to all the lower grades of 
schools in succession, and the sensibility of the popular 
mind is increased in favor of improvement and progress 
in every department of the general system, so that no 
more certain plan of elevating the condition of the 

primary schools could be devised, than to create a 
12 



238 MR. Hammond's lecture. 

deeper interest among the people in favor of our col- 
leges and higher seminaries. 

But the prevailing sentiment now seems to intimate 
that common schools only can properly claim, hereafter, 
the fostering care of the commonwealth, and that higher 
institutions must be sustained by individual munifi- 
cence, although they confer incalculable benefits on the 
whole population. And, therefore. Boards of Educa- 
tion have been established to cherish and sustain the pri- 
mary schools, and men of the highest qualifications have 
been appointed to the oversight of what is truly a great 
public interest. We complain not of this arrangement, 
except that it is too partial. The higher seminaries 
have an equal claim to be included in the sympathy and 
supervision of the state. In the voluminous Educational , 
Beports presented to the legislature, to be afterwards 
spread out before all the people, no allusion is made to 
the long-established Colleges and Academies of the com- 
monwealth. Their benefits and wants are never alluded 
to. And the inference to be drawn, is, that the peo- 
ple have no concern to know of these matters. The 
State of New York furnishes an exception to these re- 
marks, in her liberal and comprehensive system of Pub- 
lic Instruction. The Regents of the University have 
under their care all the literary institutions that receive 
the patronage of the state. 

We believe our higher seminaries will be sustained, 
and continue to pour forth their priceless benefits, even 
though they must be left to the support of the friends 
of liberal education. Still, it is a great misfortune to 
the people themselves, that the prosperity of the higher 



COMMON SCHOOLS AND DIGHER SEMINARIES. 239 

institutions should be regarded either with indifference, 
distrust, or open hostility ; for the existence of adverse 
popular prejudices tends greatly to limit the influence 
of the higher seminaries, and of the scholars trained in 
them. 

Most of the states of New England have nearly with- 
drawn all patronage from colleges and academies : and 
where it is not wholly withheld, it is grudgingly given, 
from motives of partisan policy, rather than from any 
real interest felt in these institutions. The State of 
Connecticut boasts in the honor of her magnificent 
school fund, and, by prudent financiering, has hitherto 
furnished ample means to produce most meagre results ; 
whilst Yale College, her proudest ornament, has long 
since ceased to look for legislative aid. She is compar- 
atively, in respect to endowments, among the poorest of 
the New England colleges, though She is resorted to, as 
a National University, by students from every state in 
the Union. Even Massachusetts has lost her ancient re- 
nown, gained by her liberality to Harvard University. 

It is said we must educate the children of the people, 
in the schools of the people, as though the children of 
the people, and those, too, of the greatest promise, do 
not find as ready admission to the higher as to the lower 
seminaries, if they wish to enter ; as though the chil- 
dren of the people do not constitute the whole body of 
students in all our colleges and high schools. It is a 
most injurious aspersion, let who will utter it, that the 
advantages of our higher institutions, are specially de- 
signed for particular classes or for particular professions, 
or that the sons of the rich and honored in the world, 



240 MR. Hammond's lecture. 

in this "^ay derive exclusive benefits and privileges, as 
is the case in some of the European Universities. This 
assertion, which we often hear in some quarters, is the 
offspring either of upardonable ignorance, or of sheer 
malignity. So far is it from the truth that our high 
schools and colleges tend to create or foster such distinc- 
tions as wealth or birth confer in some countries, that a 
large proportion of the students of our most thriving 
institutions, are the sons, not of the affluent, but of the 
honest poor : many of them, indeed, boasting of a parent- 
age belonging to nature's nobility, though unknown to 
fame. And if there can be found on earth a realiza- 
tion of that dream of politicians, a republic where there 
is a perfect equality of rights and privileges, and a per- 
fect reciprocity of social sympathy and good fellowship 
absolutely independent of the factitious distinctions, 
which prevail elsewhere, that realization is a community 
of students in an American college. 

The impression is quite too common, that the advan- 
tages of a liberal education are individual or personal, 
rather than popular. It is to be feared that even those 
who have enjoyed the advantages of the higher institu- 
tions, think too little of their universal relations, and too 
often embrace the popular error, that when young men 
resort to the academy and the college, it is chiefly to bene- 
fit themselves, and that whatever is contributed to the 
glory of the state, is an incidental good, and not a lead- 
ing aim, of the higher seminaries. 

But what is the ultimate design of the higher insti- 
tutions of learning, and what are their relations to the 
state ? The student himself may properly look at ob- 



COMMON SCHOOLS AND HIGHER SEMINARIES. 241 

jects to be gained, vrhicli to him are purely personal. 
And the parent or guardian will also be deeply inter- 
ested in the same individual ends. But the teacher, the 
philanthropist, and the statesman will make their obser- 
vations from a different stand-point. And both pupil 
and parent, teacher and statesman, the natural guardians 
of the young, and the public guardians of the state, 
will find, when the end of study and discipline has been 
gained, that the greatest good of the individual and 
that of the commonwealth coincide. 

It is right that the student should regard as a personal 
end, whatever tends to fit him for future service in the 
active professions. Let him explore the rich treasures 
of science. Let him become familiar with the best mod- 
els of taste and style, in eloquence and in composition. 
Let him, so far as is possible, be imbued with the true 
spirit of classic art, and learn to appreciate the inimitable 
conceptions and immortal forms of classic beauty. And, 
that he may be urged as much as possible to intellectual 
effort, let him be affected by the incentives of a gen- 
erous ambition, which operate so powerfully and inces- 
santly on college ground. These motives and methods 
of discipline, the ratio conformatioque doctrince of Cic- 
ero, must result in personal advantages of the highest 
value. The power of efficient thought, and the felici- 
tous expression of thought are thus acquired. The mind, 
in this way, becomes liberalized, in the sense of refining 
the taste by that high standard of criticism, formed not 
from the fancies of the passing times, nor from the bold 
conceits of some leading, though wayward, mind, but 
rather by the resultant studies and mental training of 



242 MR. Hammond's lecture. 

successive generations of the best teachers and the 
best scholars, on the same ground. The mind also be- 
comes liberalized in the still higher sense of being set 
free from the dominion of wrong biases, from unfounded 
prejudices, from all the unreal phantoms, — the idols ^ as 
Lord Bacon calls them, which forever beset uneducated 
or partially educated minds, and hold so many in hope- 
less bondage. 

But important as these benefits are to the student 
as personal ends, yet the University, and the State, its 
natural Patron, regard these personal advantages, as 
means to attain an end greater than all, viz., the glory 
of the Commonwealth, and the progress of the immortal 
kingdom of God in the hearts of men. There is a 
higher interest connected with the Universities of Ox- 
ford and Cambridge, than the fact, that the students, 
during the period of their residence at college, receive 
tuition in the various departments of learning, or that 
this instruction will tend to promote such objects of 
general utility as the progress of discovery in the arts 
and sciences. Great Britain has a motive in sustaining 
her ancient Universities greater than that of conferring 
upon mankind the general benefit which we, and a'l 
who speak the English tongue, enjoy, flowing from the 
great works of her greatest scholars, educated in those 
time-honored institutions. There is an end even greater 
than this, and one which relates to the very existence 
of the British Empire. It pertains to the resources of 
the national life and glory, and constitutes its very ele- 
ments of indestructibility. It is that which reproduces, 
in the successive generations of the British race, those 



COMMON SCHOOLS AND HEGHER SEMINARIES. 243 

higli characteristics and sentiments which have made 
illustrious the British name. It is not in the Halls of 
Westminster, nor at Windsor Castle, nor in the royal 
cabinets and armories of Tower Hill, but in her ancient 
Universities, that the great heart of England beats. 
There, in those seats of learning, where are gathered 
the memories of her long line of illustrious scholars and 
statesmen, — there, where the proudest associations of 
national honor are deepest felt by susceptible and gen- 
erous minds, — there, where are kept the records of the 
national renown from the days of King Alfred, the sons 
of the nobility and gentlemen of England come to be 
educated. And by the influences thus created, and the 
sentiments there inspired, elements of national strength 
and vitality of such importance are produced, that 
Great Britain could better afford to lose all her military 
fortresses, and every ship of that navy which has given 
her the dominion of the sea. 

We hardly need remark here, what " forces of 
strength " would accrue to these means of national 
energy, if the tests which exclude dissenters from the 
English Universities were abolished. In return for the 
privileges which such men as Archbishop Whately, the 
late Dr. Arnold, and others have wished to be extended 
to the non-Episcopal population, the State would receive 
a tribute of increased patriotic regard, richer far than 
the income derived from all foreign dependencies. 

Now have we the same element of strength in the 
constitution of American society ? Have we institu- 
tions which have produced results of good corresponding 
with, or at least similar in kind to, those derived by 



244 MR. Hammond's lecture. 

England from her Universities ? We answer, Yes ! a 
system of national instruction far better adapted to our 
"svants, — a system equally efficient for good, and just 
as vitally connected with all the great interests entrusted 
to the guardianship of the State. 

Our higher seminaries and colleges were not founded 
to educate the sons of a legally recognized nobility, for 
none such ever inhabited our soil ; not even to educate 
the sons of gentlemen in the old English sense of the 
word, for of that class few ever emigrated to New 
England ; since a gentleman, according to the old 
English notion, was " one whose rank made it unbecom- 
ing and degrading for him to labor, and whose estate 
rendered labor unnecessary." * But it was that the 
great body of the people might be ennobled by the 
possession, or by the influence of enlightened minds, 
that they might thus be raised to the dignity of gentle- 
men, in the better and modern sense of the term " which 
embraces all the admirable and high moral traits of man- 
hood." It was that labor might be redeemed from 
degradation, and the constitution of God vindicated, who 
wisely ordained the destiny of labor as one of happiness 
and honor. From the earliest times, these great objects 
have been appreciated no where with more clearness 

* " As for gentlemen," says Sir Thomas Smith, " they be made 
good cheap in this kingdom ; for whosoever studieth the laws of 
the realm, who studieth in the Universities, who professeth the 
liberal sciences, and, to be short, who can hve idly, and without 
manual labor, and will bear the port, charge, and countenance 
of a gentleman, he shall be called master, and shall be taken for 
a gentleman." — BlacJcstone^s Commentaries^ Vol. lypage 318. 



COMMON SCHOOLS AND HIGHER SEMINARIES. 245 

tlian in our higher seminaries of learning, and no instru- 
mentality has been more efficient in promoting them. 
It was the training of the young men in the colleges of 
New England, and their influence in the community, 
that kept alive and caused to take deep root, the germs 
of popular liberty, planted by the fathers, and which, 
slowly and surely developing, were one day to ripen 
into fixed popular sentiments, and written constitutions 
of government. 

The early teachers of New England did much to 
form a style of manners and modes of thought that 
should be American and not European. They did 
much to weaken the sentiment of foreign vassalage, and 
kindle a national spirit. They did much to imbue the 
popular mind, not so much with a feeling of loyalty for 
the king, as with a feeling of reverence for the author- 
ity of their own Commonwealths ; and especially did 
they do much to enthrone the altars of God, not under 
Gothic arches, in temples consecrated after the manner 
of the Jewish or Papal ritual, but deep in the hearts of 
an intelligent and Christian people. 

While we claim so much for the higher seminaries, 
as halving exerted so important an influence in giving 
form and character to the institutions under which we 
now live, we do not forget that these most happy results 
could not have been effected without the constant 
cooperation of the primary schools. We believe the 
agency of the higher schools on the leading minds of 
the community was greater in former days than at pres- 
ent ; but at no time has any department of the system 
w^orked independently, or otherwise than in harmony 

12* 



24^3 MR. Hammond's lecture. 

with the others. And any influence which shall tend 
to disturb this harmony of action, should be earnestly 
resisted. In this one respect, there is a striking contrast 
between the working of the American system of public 
instruction, and that of any foreign land. 

For in England, there is no intimate relation between 
the ancient public schools, and the recent measures to 
educate in some degree the peasant and operatives of 
the larger towns and cities. The British Empire at- 
tained to its present degree of influence among the 
nations by other means than by promoting popular edu- 
cation. It was enough that the sons of the nobility and 
gentry were educated in the best manner possible. 
The same will hold true in other countries where still 
more has been done, and excellent schools exist for the 
benefit of the lower classes. But these model primary 
schools, as some are disposed to regard them, have no 
necessary connection with the gymnasium or the Uni- 
versity. The Normal system of State Schools of 
Prussia, which has been conducted with such consum- 
mate ability and success, has specific purposes to ac- 
complish, which would meet with no sympathy from the 
public sentiment of this country. We know not what 
may be the result of the great popular revolutions now 
in progress. One effect may be, to modify essentially 
the ends of popular instruction which have hitherto 
prevailed. Some idea of the Normal system of Prussia 
may be obtained from the recent work of Chevalier 
Bunsen on the " Constitution of the Church of the 
Future." 

This author, lately one of the ministers of William 



COMMON SCHOOLS AND HIGHER SEMINARIES. 247 

Frederick, and enjoying a high reputation in Europe, 
both as a scholar and a statesman, tells us that the 
17,000 schoolmasters of Protestant Prussia are trained 
for their profession in the following manner. After 
having been thoroughly educated until their fifteenth or 
sixteenth year in the higher schools, where Latin and 
Greek are taught, they are then trained from two to 
three years in one of the twenty-four Protestant semi- 
naries for the education of schoolmasters. They are 
then considered as connected with the ecclesiastical 
establishment of the kingdom, and hold their place of 
teacher as a national office ; each teacher, to use the 
language of Chevalier Bunsen, " holding a genuine 
churchmanly and national profession, being connected 
with the p^tor of the parish in religious instruction, 
and sometimes, in cases of necessity, acting as his 
deputy in the performance of divine service as far as 
this consists in preaching ; the schoolmaster in Prussia 
being, in fact, the minister's deacon for the instruction of 
the rising generation. Here, then, we have, as it ap- 
pears, a very substantial living branch of the real 
Diaconate in the apostolic sense, that is, of the systena 
of helpers or assistants in the church." 

Such is the system of the Normal School in Prussia, 
as given by one of the Court ministry, who speaks of it in 
terms of the highest praise. He, elsewhere in his book, 
calls it an " admirable system, having grown up in the 
church under the dictatorship of the State, and that, 
too, in heavy and sorrowful times, both for the govern- 
ment and people, that is, from 1807 to 1815. 

Much has been said in favor of Normal Schools, of 



248 MR. Hammond's lecture. 

late, and in several of the New England States such 
institutions have been established. Thej are named 
after the Prussian Normal Schools, and their general 
design is the same, — to train teachers for the primary 
schools. But, in many respects, they must be very dif- 
ferent from the Prussian models, being confined chiefly 
to the vrork of teaching by the best methods, the rudi- 
mental branches of an English Education. In this 
respect, they propose a standard of imitation to be 
adopted by all the grammar schools and Academies in 
the State where English studies are pursued. Indeed, 
we think that every incorporated Academy which has 
received the benefactions of the State should be pro- 
vided with the means and facihties for the education of 
teachers. If a superstructure be raised oi> foundations 
already laid, each Academy will have a department 
devoted more eJQficiently to carrying out one of the ob- 
jects of the grammar schools, from the first, — to provide 
competent teachers for the primary schools. 

If, indeed, the whole system of public instruction is 
to be reconstructed, and the common school is to be 
separated from its ancient and natural alliance with the 
grammar school and college, and henceforth is to claim 
sympathy as alone having popular aims, whilst the 
higher seminaries are to be left to the sympathy of their 
alumnij as having other than popular aims, then, indeed, 
there must be a great deficiency in the means of train- 
ins; common school teachers. But if there is to be. as 
formerly, a common aim and sympathy, then let it be 
regarded in time to come, as it ever has been, one of 
the legitimate purposes of the higher seminaries of 



COMMON SCHOOLS AND HIGIIEE SEMINARIES. 249 

every grade, to provide suitable teachers for every 
grade of each lower school. And if the business of 
teaching is to rank in usefulness with the so-called 
learned professions, let the present Normal Schools of 
New England be supplied with the most accomplished 
teachers, and let then^ be the resort, not of those only 
who have completed the studies of the common school 
and the academy, but let the graduate of the college, 
also, resort there, so that in this profession, as well as 
in Law, Medicine, and Theology, all questions relating 
to the true philosophy of education, as well as the best 
methods of imparting instruction, may be examined by 
mature and disciplined minds. 

But when all is done that can be done for the im- 
provement of common schools, (and the work of pro- 
gress is yet only in its early stages) still we protest 
most earnestly against the assumption, that the common 
school, in its most perfect state, will render the higher 
schools and seminaries less important. There will then 
be a greater need than ever for their controlling and con- 
servative influences. Otherwise only is it possible, that 
what is claimed for the common school as a means of 
social elevation, as the safeguard of freedom, as the 
hope of coming ages, can be true. But this sine qua 
non condition of the utility of common schools is not 
often mentioned in the projects of radical reformers and 
political demagogues, who seek for the favor of the 
people by deluding them. There is a light shining 
from the abundant sources of truth, from whose pres- 
ence false pretenders in philosophy find it agreeable to 
retire, and gladly would they also keep others from the 
light. 



250 MR. Hammond's lecture. 

This absolute condition of tlie highest success of the 
primary schools is sometimes lost sight of by their sin- 
cere advocates. Some forget all other useful agencies, 
in their exclusive regard for one class of instrumentali- 
ties to advance a good cause. Hence in teachers' con- 
ventions, invidious comparisons are sometimes made as 
to the relative importance of the business of teaching, 
and that of other professions. But we would honor the 
faithful teacher in every grade and department of in- 
struction. In New England, the faithful, successful 
teacher has never failed to secure respect. The com- 
mune vinculum which the aims and sympathies of all 
the learned professions kept with that of teaching, will be 
bright and burnished. We have always admired the 
liberal spirit of Sir Thomas Browne, the author of the 
Religio Medici, in his remark, that " all the liberal pro- 
fessions have their origin in a common desi^rn to remedy 
the woes occasioned to the human race by Adam's fall." 
Some appear to have a different opinion, and we have 
often witnessed amusing devices to raise what is called 
the " dignity of the teacher's profession." Perhaps no 
harm is done when teachers' conventions pass reso- 
lutions of self-commendation ; still, such methods of 
supporting " dignity " imply a nervous state of doubt, 
rather than the quiet repose and satisfaction which real 
merit always gives its possessor. 

But give us self-made men, it is said, — the graduates 
of the common schools — Washington and Franklin, 
never studied Latin or Greek : — they and some of the 
greatest men in the land were graduates of the common 
schools — just as though there was any foundation for 



COMMON SCHOOLS AND HIGHEE SEMINARIES. 251 

the term self-made whatever, — as though any man in 
such a country as ours could possibly arrive at any 
eminent station, by any means in college or out, except 
by efforts purely and personally his own — as though 
all young men who do not study what Washington and 
Franklin did not study, will therefore become Wash- 
ingtons and Franklins. 

If there is one popular error more detrimental to the 
progress of learning in this country than any other, 
it is that which consists in not apprehending the true 
uses of classical studies as a means of education. The 
impression is too prevalent, that there is no particular 
relation between the means of mental discipline fur- 
nished in the higher schools, and those in the lower; that, 
therefore, the college studies do not directly prepare 
the teacher the better for service in an English school 
— and, of course, that progress in the lower schools 
does not consist in an approximation towards the studies 
and modes of training pursued in the higher seminaries, 
at least so far as respects the study of the classics. 
It is not many years since it was a matter of serious 
discussion in some of the colleges, whether the classics 
should not be dispensed with as a part of a liberal edu- 
cation, and something more practical be substituted. 
The Faculty of Yale College thought it best to publish 
a defence of the ancient system. The question was 
soon decided, and it will not again be raised in any of 
the higher seminaries ; and we trust that, in the exer- 
cise of their proper vocation, they will ere long entirely 
correct the popular errors that prevail on this subject. 
The time is not distant, we trust, when that which is 



252 MR. Hammond's lecture. 

deemed essential as a means of mental culture in col- 
lege, will be regarded as equally useful for all young 
persons who are desirous, as far as they can, to improve 
their minds by the best methods, and the best studies. 
If the word practical means what is useful^ and the 
word uspfal, in respect to school studies, means whatever 
afifords discipline, information, refinement, and pleasure 
to the mind, then is the study of the ancient classics a 
proper means of most practical and useful education for 
boys engaged in all sorts of professions and occupations 
which demand mental discipline and refinement. Clas- 
sical studies are adapted to be elemental, as well as 
complemental, in a course of intellectual training. They 
are the best means to educate boys rapidly and 
thoroughly, whilst they are most admirable to instruct, 
refine, and delight men. 

" The study of language," says Dr. Arnold, " seems 
to me as if it were given for the very purpose of form- 
ing the human mind in youth ; and the Greek and 
Latin languages, in themselves so perfect, and at the 
same time freed from the insuperable difficulty which 
must attend any attempt to teach boys philosophy 
through the medium of their mother tongue, seem the 
very instruments by which it is to be effected." 

'' The study of Latin and Greek is important as a 
school exercise, mainly because it enables us to under- 
stand and employ well that language in which we com- 
monly think and speak and write. It does this, be- 
cause Greek and Latin are specimens at once highly 
perfect, and incapable of being understood without long 
and minute attention. The study of them, therefore, 



COMMON SCHOOLS AND HIGHER SEMINARIES. 25B 

naturally involves that of the general principles of 
grammar ; whilst their peculiar excellences illustrate 
the points which render language clear and forcible 
and beautiful. But our application of this general 
knowledge must naturally be to our language ; to show 
us what are its peculiarities, what its beauties, what its 
defects, — to teach us by the patterns or analogies 
offered by other languages, how the effect which we 
admire in them may be produced witk a somewhat dif- 
ferent instrument. Every lesson in Latin or Greek 
may and ought to be made a lesson in English. The 
translation of every sentence is properly an exercise in 
extemporaneous English composition, a problem how to 
express, with equal brevity, clearness and force, in our 
own language, the thought, which the original author 
has so admirably expressed in his." 

Such is the testimony of the teacher of Rugby, 
showing the connection there is between the study of 
the classics and that branch of study which forms so 
important a part of a common school education, viz., 
English grammar^ including composition. We do not 
think it would be wise for the pupils generally to study 
Latin in our common schools. The course of study in 
the primary schools should, in the main, be confined to 
the rudiments of an English education. Still, the ad- 
vantages of instruction in the classics should be enjoyed 
by as many of the youth of the land as possible. Such 
a course of training would be far preferable to that 
which is becoming fashionable, to devote very much of 
the time for the education of young men for agricultural 
and mercantile pursuits, to the study of elementary 



254 MR. hammokd's lecture. 

treatises on the natural sciences, most of which, as 
means of mental discipline, are no better than a news- 
paper. It is deemed of the greatest importance that 
teachers of common schools shall be as well furnished 
as possible for their work : but how long will it be before 
the work of improvement will have advanced so far, 
that every teacher of a common school in New England 
shall be required not to teach, but to be himself taught 
in Latin and Gr^k, as an essential preliminary of his 
work ? How long will it be before that feature of the 
Normal School system of Prussia, which requires of 
every candidate for admission to a teachers' seminary, 
that he be instructed in Latin and Greek, shall be 
adopted here ? 

And yet the classical teachers of this country (few 
in number comparatively) receive not that popular 
sympathy which the masters of the English schools 
enjoy, in full measure, because the mutual relations of 
the two departments of instruction are not seen, or be- 
cause the utilit}^ of classical studies is feebly felt, or not 
apprehended at all. They are called to answer such 
questions as these : — Who are benefited by your teach- 
ings, save as they may be useful as school drillings ? 
and how can the writings of a remote age, in a language 
no longer spoken, stand related to the wants of the 
world in the living, active present ? Let the teacher 
of Rugby reply, than whom no man of our times, has 
lived with aims more intensely practical. 

*' The mind of the Greek and the Roman is, in all the 
essential points of its constitution, our own ; and not 
only so, but it is our own mind developed to an extra- 



COMMON SCHOOLS AND HIGHER SEMINARIES. 255 

ordinary degree of perfection. Wide as is the differ- 
ence between us with respect to those physical 
instruments which minister to our uses or our pleasures, 
though the Greeks and the Romans had no steam- 
engines, no printing presses, no mariner's compass, no 
telescopes, no microscopes, no gunpowder, yet in our 
moral and political views in those matters w^hich must 
determine human character, there is a perfect resem- 
blance in these respects. Aristotle and Plato and Cicero 
and Tacitus are most untruly called ancient writers ; 
they are virtually our own countrymen and contem- 
poraries, their conclusions bear on our own circum- 
stances, their information has all the charm of novelty, 
and all the value of a mass of new and pertinent facts 
illustrative of the great science of civilized man ; they 
belong really to a modern civilization like our own ; 
with a perfect abstraction from particular party names, 
which so much bias our judgment in modern and do- 
mestic instances, they discuss and illustrate the princi- 
ples of all political questions, both civil and ecclesiastical, 
with entire freedom, with the most attractive eloquence, 
and with the profoundest wisdom." 

There is one more mutual relation of the higher and 
lower seminaries of learning, to which we will but 
briefly allude, although in importance it exceeds all 
others mentioned. We refer to the common interest they 
all have in the maintenance of correct principles of moral 
discipline. The modes of moral discipline may vary in 
different grades of schools, and even in different schools 
of the same grade. But there can be but one correct 
system of moral discipline, the same in all the circum- 



256' MR. hammoxd's lecture. 

stances of chilclhoocl or manhood. The authority of 
law must be respected ; there must be a willing obe- 
dience to it, and when it is wilfully broken, the offender 
must suffer, so that, at all events, the law shall be 
honored, and, if possible, that he may be led to refor- 
mation. Childhood is the proper season to implant the 
principle of obedience and a relish for it, to continue 
through the whole period of parental authority ; so is 
the moral discipline of the common school related inti- 
mately to that of the academy and the college, the 
general duty of obedience and respect which pupils owe 
to their instructors being the same in all schools. 
Therefore it is a matter of infinite concern to the pros- 
perity of the higher seminaries and the safety of the 
students connected with them, that the right principles 
of discipline be taught and practised in all the primary 
schools. And the relation of schools of learning of 
every grade to the security and happiness of the State, 
is in no one point more momentous than in this. 

It is believed that, in all our colleges and in most of 
the higher institutions, moral discipline is still adminis- 
tered on correct principles. Public sentiment still 
requires the maintenance of strict discipline, and the 
enforcement of extreme penalties to secure the success 
and safety of students surrounded by the dangers and 
temptations of college life. 

But for the common school, we have heard of new 
and improved systems of discipline, and in these new 
systems, though such terms as " moral discipline " and 
" moral suasion" are introduced, yet the word " moral " 
has such a meaning as gives it no right to be associated 
in any way with the idea of discipline. 



COMMON SCHOOLS AND HIGHER SEMINARIES. 257 

It is said we must govern by the authority of love. 
The phrase authority of law sounds harsh and ungentle, 
and affects the nerves of those who are meekly per- 
verse, and good-naturedlj obstinate and amiably crimi- 
nal. The teacher must rule by the law of love, and all 
will be well ; he will ever find a ready response to all 
his wishes. 

Now that teacher fulfils to his pupils the law of love, 
who teaches them to love the law and to reverence its 
sanctions, and who implants in them an ever-abiding 
regard for the rule of right conduct, a regard fortified 
by the motive of fear also, yea of exceeding dread of 
the consequences of wrong-doing. And to ensure the 
habit of obedience, the teacher of right may, and in 
duty must, employ adequate means. 

What is there in the idea of an unbending law of 
right, that should be repulsive to young minds ; that 
should be withheld, that should be softened down by 
smooth, euphonic names ? What child is too young 
to learn the most important lesson of sympathy with the 
spirit of what is described in the celebrated words of 
Hooker, that "of law no less can be said than that her 
seat is in the bosom of God ; her voice, the harmony of 
the world ? " 

We cannot but think the discussions that have pre- 
vailed of late, in reference to the use of corporal 
punishment, have been uncalled for, and have been 
demoralizing in their tendency. There may be occa- 
sionally instances of severity in its use, but then there 
are means of redress and remedy, other than calling in 
question principles on which all authority rests. The 



258 MR. Hammond's lecture. 

exercise of the master's right, in the primarj school, to 
inflict pain, as the extreme penalty of school discipline, 
must, under judicious management, but very seldom 
occur ; and then, indeed, however painful it may be to 
the master, the moral uses of it are such as to render 
it his imperative duty to employ it. The calling in 
question his right to use this mode of discipline must 
tend greatly to increase, rather than diminish, the occa- 
sions of administering it. 

That theory of school government which it is not safe 
to announce from the teacher's desk, is not safe to an- 
nounce any where. That system which would naturally 
find sympathy with boys inclined to be vicious, should 
never be heard of by them. That good time dreamed 
of by radical reformers, is never coming, when juvenile 
delinquents or adult criminals will be less inclined to 
wrong-doing, by the advocacy of such a theory of 
moral discipline. That good time is never coming, 
when indolence will be quickened and passion checked, 
or the power of temptation be awakened by such a 
notion. That good time is never coming, until human 
nature shall no more need moral discipline, being 
" fixed in virtue though free to fall." 

The cause of the discussion is not, we are persuaded, 
that there has been any general abuse of power by the 
schoolmasters ; but the principle on which the ancient 
theory of school discipline rests, is unpalatable. The 
controversy is analogous, in its causes and general 
bearings, to that which has arisen on the question of 
capital punishment, and some other topics of a political 
character. Retiring from places of public notoriety. 



COMMON SCHOOLS AND HIGHER SEMINARIES. 259 

such as the halls of legislation and the pulpit, and 
avoiding controversy with the leading minds who are 
busilj engaged with the engrossing duties of profes- 
sional life, the advocates of error have entered the 
school-room, and under the cover of a most zealous 
regard for universal education, they have undertaken 
to revolutionize public sentiment by infusing false no- 
tions into the minds of the young, as to the principles 
of obedience to the authority of law, and thus, ere 
long, will the safety of the State be endangered by a 
new generation of active citizens, who have been taught 
to regard not the law of conscience, but of mere incli- 
nation, as a correct principle of action. 

If these wrong notions of school discipline shall ex- 
tensively prevail in the common schools, their influence 
will soon be felt in the higher institutions, and increase 
a thousand fold the difficulties of maintaining sound 
discipline in our Colleges and Universities. And no con- 
servative power of any or all of our seminaries of learn- 
ing will be able to prevent the consequent destruction 
of public morality, and the introduction of the worst 
'principles of civil government. 

Therefore this heresy in the matter of school disci- 
pline, should be watched with a most wakeful solicitude 
by the patriot and the Christian. It is the offspring of 
a false philosophy of social life, though loud in its pre- 
tensions to reform. It is a philosophy which calls 
crime a misfortune or a disease, and retributive justice, 
revenge. It is the offspring of a false philanthropy, 
though loud in its professions of benevolence. It is a 
philanthropy which sheds crocodile's tears over the 



260 MR. Hammond's lecture. 

merited sufferings of the guilty criminal, but lias no 
sympathy for outraged justice ; and thus have the 
forms of the law been made to shield the greatest 
crimes, and penitentiaries have become retreats for the 
insane, or cities of refuge from the avenger of blood. 

We shall not endeavor here to refute these monstrous 
errors further than to say, that if the principle of pun- 
ishment under which the criminal is a sufferer, can- 
not be justified, and those ends of punishment be not 
legitimate, which are retributive, then we know not what 
to think of the universal sentiment of mankind which 
has awarded the highest honors to such names as 
Aristides the Just ; to the elder Cato, the stern old 
Roman Censor, " who had rather his good actions 
should go unrewarded, than his bad ones unpunished ; " 
to Sir Thomas More, who could most cheerfully die 
rather than compromise his integrity ; and to our own 
Marshall, whose love of truth and justice was a burning 
passion. How shall teachers in our schools commend, 
as they do, these examples to the admiration of their 
pupils, and yet exercise over them a system of disci- 
phne which tends to the subversion of that idea of truth ' 
and justice, the love and the practice of which made 
these great names immortal ? 



LECTURE VII. 

TEACHING AS A PROEESSION. 

BY NELSON WHEELER. 

The choice of a profession involves one of the most 
important questions which a young man is ever called 
on to decide. It ought, in all cases, to be made the sub- 
ject of the most careful and anxious inquiry ; for ac- 
cording as the choice is wisely or unwisely made, so 
may virtue, competence, happiness, and honor ; or vice, 
poverty, wretchedness, and ignominy be his portion, 
and constitute the inheritance which he shall bequeathe 
to his children. Especially does this become a question 
of superlative importance in a country, and under a go- 
vernment like our own. Here no castes throw their 
adamantine chains around the youth, to bind him down 
to the employments, the habits, and the modes of 
thought, which, for two thousand years, may have 
characterized his progenitors. Here no rehcs of feudal 
ages, institutions and usages the growth of centuries, 
rear their menacing forms to check the aspirations of 
the humble citizen who chooses to aspire to the highest 
offices in the land. No monopoly of honors, or laws of 
primogeniture offer to bolster up the royal knave and 

13 



262 MR. wheeler's lecture. 

princely fool, whose sole expectancy under our institu- 
tions would be the certainty of sinking to their proper 
level. Parental authority, even, may not overstep the 
limits of minority, and dictate the course which the 
aspiring youth shall pursue when the laws shall have 
once pronounced him " his own man." 

And here, too, there is not only freedom to choose, 
but the most imperative necessity is laid upon every 
one to exercise that choice. Not only is every man the 
architect of his own fortune, but every man must have 
some vocation, though it be but in name. To be with- 
out any particular profession or special calling, however 
competent in fortune a man may be to meet his own 
wants and those of his family, is a disgrace : it is an 
unpardonable offence in the eyes of an excessively active 
and enterprising people. 

The motives which for the most part determine the 
choice of a profession are various, and deserve a moment's 
consideration. The majority, in this country, are in- 
fluenced by considerations of wealth ; some regarding 
it as a means, others as an end, and still others having 
both objects in view. With some, again, honor and 
fame, immediate or remote, and the love of power and 
place, are the great controlling influences. Others 
give themselves up to the passing current, ready to 
pursue now this course, and now that, as wind and tide 
may promise to waft them on to fortune, or threaten to 
engulf them in ruin. A few, whom genius has chosen 
as special favorites, owe their choice to some uncontrol- 
lable bent of their nature, or to some remarkable oc- 
currence or combination of circumstances which has 



TEACHING AS A PROFESSION. 263 

powerfully arrested their attention in early life. With 
such, their choice is not unfrequently a necessary part 
of their being, and to be relinquished only with life. 
A few, a very few, forgetting themselves and their own 
present wants, look rather to the good of others, and to 
the estimation in which they shall be held by the great 
and good of coming ages. 

If all young men are bound by every consideration of 
duty and interest to make the choice of a profession a 
subject of careful and anxious inquiry, with the edu- 
cated youth it assumes a two-fold importance. Gift- 
ed, it may be, with powers which fall not to the lot of 
ordinary men, and these powers nurtured, enlarged, 
and invigorated by a long course of patient application, 
his capacity, both for receiving and communicating, is 
greatly increased. How important, then, that that 
capacity receive such a direction that both himself and 
others may reap the full benefit of it. 

I have been led to make these remarks as preliminary 
to the attempt to urge upon young men of talents and 
education who are about making their choice, the 
claims of that profession which we represent on the pres- 
ent occasion. The same attempt may also be viewed 
in the light of an apology, if apology be necessary 
in such a case, for choosing this field of labor in pref- 
erence to those which are more usually sought. An 
apology or defence of this sort is the more appropriate, 
as it has appeared to me, in consequence of the esti- 
mation in which the calling has usually been held. 
That it has not been held in very high repute, I need 
not assert, much less attempt to prove. But wh/ it 



264 MR. wheeler's lecture. 

has not been held in higher estimation, is a question 
more easily asked than answered ; for it is a profession 
which gives promise of competence, honor, gratitude, 
and the opportunities for self-improvement and benevo- 
lent effort, to an extent to which scarcely any other 
profession can lay claim. Let us inquire whether the 
teacher's profession be not, in all these respects, an 
eligible one. 

In the first place, is it not an eligible one, so far as 
competence is concerned ? And here, allow me to say, 
I begin with this, not because it possesses any superiority 
over the other inducements yet to be named ; on the 
contrary, viewed as a motive power in the settlement of 
such a question as this, in the mind of an educated man, 
1 would rank it as one of the very lowest. It deserves 
notice first only because the first question to be asked 
and answered by him who is about to choose a profes- 
sion, is, whether it will yield a support for himself and 
for those who may be dependent on him in life. No 
one, certainly, could be expected to enter any profession, 
however inviting in other respects^ directly in face of 
starvation and beggary. A competence, then, may be 
relied on by every teacher of fair abilities and deter, 
mined spirit, — a competence^ I say, not a fortune, 
though even that might be hoped for, if a man could 
see nothing fair but gold, and were willing to become a 
mean, miserly wretch, to obtain it. But we protest 
against 'the idea of valuing a man's services to the pub- 
lic by gold. We cannot but look with utter loathing 
and abhorrence upon the attempt to make professional 
skitl a matter of mere merchandise, to be bought and 



. TEACHING AS A PEOFESSION. 265 

sold, and held at its market price, and valued in dollar| 
and cents. Nor can we forbear to express with what 
supreme contempt we look upon that man, be he in 
either of the learned professions, who seeks his only or 
his chief compensation in a pecuniary form. Those 
who cannot appreciate the luxury of benevolence, who 
have no conception of the priceless value of gratitude 
and love, unless followed by the means of luxurious ease 
and sensual indulgence, have no business in those pur- 
suits and callings where love and gratitude are the 
great staple commodities. There are professions in 
which love of justice and benevolence should be the 
great ruling motive ; but reverse the order, and make 
these motives subservient to a love of gain, and you rob 
them of half their power, and in their relations to hu- 
manity, of more than half their excellency and loveli- 
ness. 

The time has been, perhaps, when talent could not 
command so high pay in teaching as in many other de- 
partments of labor, or, if you choose, in the other 
learned professions. I may even say it was not suffi- 
ciently rewarded to meet its actual necessities for 
efficient service. But in this respect, we all know very 
well, there has been a rapid improvement going on of 
late. In the cities and more populous villages of this 
State, the salaries of teachers have attained to a condi- 
tion little below that of our most talented clergymen, to 
say nothing of the agents and secretaries of insurance 
and other moneyed corporations. Indeed, all over the 
State and country, the signs of the times are still 
auspicious. The absolute necessity of the right educa- 



266 ME. wheeler's lecture. 

^on of the young to the permanency of our government 
and free institutions, is every day gaining a firmer hold 
upon the convictions of the public mind. Whilst this is 
the case, there must ever be an increasing demand 
for talent in this department of labor, — a demand 
which can be supplied only by the offer of liberal com- 
pensation. We venture the assertion, therefore, that 
few callings ofi[er so liberal and especially so sure in- 
ducements, in the way of compensation, as this. We 
respect it ; there is no one of the learned professions in 
which a man of fair talents and determined spirit may 
more confidently expect a competence than in that of 
teaching. With the generous and noble-minded, this 
will suffice ; whilst those who lack these qualities we 
care not to lead farther in their inquiries. 

Again, this profession is an eligible one because it is 
an honorable one. And here let me express the hope 
that no one will smile at my simplicity, for I said an 
Jionorahle, not an honored, one. I know, indeed, that 
the calling, as a calling, has not been held in the very 
highest esteem, even in this land of schools. There are 
not a few, even at this late day, who regard the teacher 
as a mere harmless drudge, destitute of the spirit of a 
man, and unworthy the respect due to humanity. 
Geniuses, it is true,have sometimes been compelled, from 
the necessity of their circumstances, to serve their turn 
in this intellectual purgatory ; but they have afterward 
spared no pains to inform the world that their aspira- 
tions were awfully checked, their intellects cramped, 
and their magnanimous souls vexed, past endurance, by 
the petty foibles and nameless caprices of childhood. 



TEACHING AS A PROFESSION. 267 

We have even seen tlie biography of a man, by some es- 
teemed a martyr to the cause of humanity, set off most 
sadly at the expense of this much-abused profession. 
Indeed, the simple, unvarnished state of public opinion on 
this subject seems to have been, that if a man were too 
stupid for any other business, then he might reasonably 
devote himself to school-keeping ; — as a life-business, of 
course, I mean ; for even a man of spirit and abilities 
might follow it occasionally, or for a short time, provided 
he did it only as a means to some more exalted and 
praiseworthy pursuit ; provided, also, he manifested the 
utmost impatience to get out of the employment, and 
took every possible occasion to express the utter con- 
tempt in which he held the business. But this, after 
all, has been but a public opinion ; and public opinion, 
aside from the merits of the question, is really worth 
nothing at all. No man of sense will graduate his 
views of the dignity of any calling by the rank assigned 
it by the multitude, or measure its claims upon his 
attention by the present applause to be gained thereby. 
It is notorious that, with the great mass of men, pomp 
and display are in vastly higher repute than the most 
substantial good ; and more than five out of every ten 
will esteem you more for a laughable anecdote, than for 
the most inestimable moral precept or valuable infor- 
mation. It surely is not to be wondered at, then, that 
the office of the teacher should have been considered 
one of no special dignity, save the mock dignity of 
caricatured pedagogues. 

But, fortunately, the day of such factitious distinc- 
tions is passing away ; and the time is not far distant 



268 MR. wheeler's lecture. 

when every man shall owe his standing in society to his 
own personal efforts for the general good, and every 
profession shall be ranked according to the benevolence 
of its aim, and the actual benefit conferred on humanity. 
When that day shall have fully come, the teacher shall 
no longer blush to own himself such in the company of 
the learned and great of other professions ; nor shall 
every ignorant, indolent, and insolent limb of the law 
swell with assumed importance, and demand and secure 
precedence of his more learned and more useful neighbor 
in another profession. 

The time has been when the business of the teacher 
was limited, at least in the expectation of the public, to 
the mere training of the intellect. This, though an 
object of incomparably greater importance than the 
mere acquisition of wealth, or scramble for honor and 
office, is now pronounced but one part of a teacher's 
duty. He who takes the infant mind in its ignorance 
and weakness, who stores it with useful knowledge, and 
imparts to it an unquenchable thirst for indefinite in- 
crease, surely does a noble work. But he who imparts 
a love of virtue as well as of knowledge, who teaches 
the youth not only to store his mind, but to lay it, with 
all its acquisitions, upon the altar of his country and of 
humanity, does far more, and far better. He deserves, 
and shall receive the lasting gratitude of those whom 
he has thus benefited. Nay more, the world shall yet 
bear witness to the true dignity of his calling, and ad- 
vance him higher in honor than she has heretofore 
elevated her heroes and statesmen. 



TEACHING AS A PROFESSION. 269 

The original talents of Washington were, doubtless, 
not superior to those of many others who have been less 
distinguished in history ; by nature he was no more 
patriotic. Much of what he was, he owed, it is true, 
to himself, and to the circumstances in which he was 
placed during his eventful life. And yet, so apparently 
trifling are the events which shape one's course and 
make the man, who will dare say that this country is 
not indebted to the early training of that great man, 
for the institutions which are now our pride and boast ? 
To have furnished but one stone, and that a necessary 
one, for the perfection of such a structure as is exhibited 
in his character, were glory enough for one man's life. 
To be sure, not all the boys who frequent our schools, 
will ever become Washingtons, either in ability or pat- 
riotism, however perfect their education shall be. Na- 
ture has not given them the capacity: the circumstances 
of the country may give them no opportunity ; and, in 
this world of idleness and sin, the best efforts may fail 
to arouse the intellect or form the virtues. But every 
teacher has more or less of talent committed to his care, 
and he may succeed in producing the most illustrious 
characters ; and the bare possibility of such a result, in 
a few cases — nay, in one case, even, is enough to 
confer the highest dignity upon the profession. But 
the true dignity of the office depends not on the un- 
certain contingency of bringing out a few illustrious 
characters. To save from the thraldom of ignorance, 
to rescue from the jaws of vice and immorality, to 
awaken to a consciousness of their intellectual being, 

and of their moral and social capacities, a host of youth 
13* 



270 MR. wheeler's lecture. 

who are just starting upon their career of immortality, 
is an achievement of the noblest order. And who, 
with fair abilities, a pure heart, and indomitable pur- 
pose, may not hope to accomplish thus much ? 

All this may be admitted in the abstract, and yet it 
may be objected, after all, that such considerations are 
not available in the choice of a profession, because 
young men, who are proverbially alive to the estimation 
in which they are to be held, will be influenced not so 
much by the real intrinsic dignity of the profession, as 
by that degree of importance actually accorded to it in 
the community. As a matter of fact, with reference to 
the past, the force of this objection must be admitted ; 
and, were we addressing purely selfish beings, we 
could not deny the universal validity of it. But we 
have presumed that we were not addressing such audi- 
tors. We had supposed that all who approach this 
subject would bring to its consideration such a sense of 
justice as to scorn the idea of receiving from others a 
meed of praise which they should not fairly have earned 
by their own personal services; that they would dis- 
dain to expect commendation and esteem, where they 
should confer no benefit. Still more : we had hoped to 
find some inquirers who were prepared to look beyond 
themselves, and consider the intrinsic merits of the pro- 
fession, aside from the immediate personal benefits to 
those who fill it ; who could value and practise virtue 
and benevolence for their own sakes, rather than for the 
applause to be thereby secured ; who would scorn to be 
found among those grumbling philanthropists, who are 
ready to abandon the objects of their benevolence, and 



TEACHING AS A PEOFBSSION. 271 

visit them with their severest anathemas, if they chance 
to discover the least signs of ingratitude or evidence that 
their efforts are not duly appreciated. We go still 
farther. We had even hoped to find now and then one 
who would bring to the investigation of this subject such 
a^vely sense of true merit, and such a jealous fear of 
that which is, in the least degree, spurious, — such a 
quick apprehension of any admixture of purely selfish 
motives, as to prefer the most uninviting fields ; who 
could not only perceive that merit is greatly enhanced 
by the difficulties which beset our benevolent efforts, but 
who could appreciate this consideration as 2k practical 
motive. 

We repeat it, then : if a young man of talents and 
education seeks a profession of true dignity, — a pro- 
fession which shall undeniably entitle him to the lasting 
gratitude of individuals and of communities, he cannot 
well make a wiser choice than to enter this field of 
. labor. 

Nor will this suffer, in this respect, in the comparison 
with the other learned professions. And here, I beg 
leave to say, I have no invidious comparisons to draw ; 
nor have I any disposition to detract from the honor justly 
due to any pursuit in life. It is the true end of the 
law, to define the rights of man in his social relations ; 
to enforce the duties and obligations which grow out of 
these relations, and with such accuracy to adjust the 
several parts of the social compact, in all their variety 
and intricacy, that there shall be no clashing, no inter- 
ference. He, therefore, who devotes himself to the 
study and practice of the law, with a singleness of pur- 



272 MR. wheeler's lecture. 

pose directed to this one object, is engaged in a most 
honorable calling, — he is worthy of all praise. 

Again, it is the province of the medical profession to 
alleviate human suffering. This it does by the dis- 
covery and application of the proper remedies, and still 
more by investigating the laws of health, and enjoinii^ 
such attention to them, as to prevent disease and con- 
sequent suffering. And here, again, where the busi- 
ness of the profession is prosecuted with the spirit due 
to the benevolence of its aim, all praise is due to the 
members of the profession, as true benefactors of the 
human race. Of the clerical profession little, surely, 
need be said. Its founder, its end and object, the good 
it has accomplished, and is still accomplishing in ele- 
vating the human race, and teaching man his true 
destiny, are surely quite enough to ensure the highest 
esteem for those who fill it worthily. 

Whilst, however, we make all these concessions in 
favor of other professions, (and we make them most 
cheerfully,) we shall still claim for the teacher a rank 
which will by no means suffer in the comparison. If it 
be honorable to remedy the evils of the social compact, 
it certainly cannot be base to rescue the rising genera- 
tion from the ignorance and vice which cause these 
evils. If it be a praiseworthy employment to alleviate 
human suffering, and provide remedies for the innumer- 
able diseases which flesh is heir to, that certainly can- 
not be a meaner calling which has for its object, by 
right training, not only to forestall the maladies to which 
the nobler and spiritual part of man is exposed, but 
also, by appeals to conscience and the understanding, 



TEACHING AB A PROFESSION. 273 

to inculcate habits of temperance and prevent those 
excesses which are the most prolific source of disease. 

Again, not only the end contemplated by this profes- 
sion, but the profession itself^ in its every-day duties, 
will make good its place in the comparison. If the 
framework of society be an exalted theme for study 
and contemplation ; if the revelations of anatomy fill 
the mind with amazement, much more should the study 
of the soul, its capacities, its mysterious connection 
with the body, its susceptibilities and the means of its 
developments, awaken the same class of emotions. It 
is true, there are many things to try the patience, and 
discourage any but the most resolute spirits. Neither 
does the lawyer always see human nature in its nobler 
aspects ; nor is the business of the physician always in 
the abodes of the opulent, the refined, and the cleanly ; 
nor is the minister always thanked for the purest acts 
of benevolence, or cheered with the prospects of imme" 
diate reformation in all those for whom he toils. And, 
again, it is not denied, that there are narrow-minded, 
self conceited ignoramuses in this profession. So, too, 
has the law its despicable pettifoggers, medicine its 
wretched quacks, and the ministry itself its Judas 
Iscariots. But this, as every man of sense fully under- 
stands, detracts not from the dignity of the respective 
professions, nor from the nobleness of their ends. 

Once more, we regard this profession as an eligible 
one, because it gives promise of a rich harvest of grate- 
ful remembrance to the faithful and disinterested 
teacher. When Themistocles at the Olympic games 
witnessed the spontaneous out-gushings of grateful 



274 MR. wheeler's lecture. 

hearts, in view of what he had done to save his coun- 
try from the Persian yoke, he assured his friends he 
had that day received a rich reward for all his toils and 
sacrifices in behalf of Greece ; and he was right. 
Who that has ever done one generous act, that has 
extended a helping hand to those ready to perish, and 
has witnessed their expressions of gratitude, has not 
resolved that the remnant of his days should be devoted 
to deeds of mercy and benevolence ? Who that has 
once responded to the dictates of a noble charity has 
not exclaimed, with wonder and delight, truly, " It is 
more blessed to give than to receive ? " Such are the 
rewards of disinterested benevolence. But there are 
very few who are so directly and so surely in the way 
of these rewards as the faithful teacher. His labors, 
it is true, may not always be appreciated. His efforts 
for the best good of his pupils may be strenuously 
opposed, or perseveringly evaded. His disinterested- 
ness may be questioned : his name may be bandied 
about, and coupled with the most opprobrious epithets ; 
he may even be insulted to his face, and every attempt 
be made to thwart his plans and exhaust his patience. 
This, I presume, is more or less the experience of 
every teacher. At the same time, not all scholars de- 
mean themselves thus. There are always enough, in 
every school, who will so far appreciate judicious efforts 
for their good, as to furnish no mean encouragement to 
perseverance. 

But it is not in present esteem that the teacher is to 
look for the great reward of his labors. Seed of this 
kind is not of so speedy a growth, nor can fruit of so 



TEACHINa AS A PROFESSION. 275 

rich and durable a flavor so speedily come to maturity. 
God has not connected such inestimable rewards with 
such trifling services. The teacher must persevere in 
his labors of love. He must set his face, like steel, 
against the discouragements of his office, neither har- 
boring impatience, nor giving place, even for a mo- 
ment, to vexation. He must, by every possible means, 
by kindness, and by authority, by coercion, even, if 
need be, aim to subdue the most obstinate, arouse the 
most stupid, give stability and decision to the wayward 
and capricious, check every tendency to vice and im- 
purity, inspire a generous love of that which is virtuous 
and pure, and awaken in the minds of the most careless 
an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and intellectual 
culture. When all this shall have been done, and done 
for years, who can tell what a glorious reward awaits 
such a man in the future history of his pupils ? From 
their various callings and pursuits in life they shall 
come up to greet him as their benefactor. One from 
his exalted position on the Bench, or in the halls of 
legislation, another glowing with the eloquence of the 
Bar, another whose heart has been warmed, and whose 
lips have been made eloquent with the sacred truths of 
Holy Writ, another from his toils and researches into 
the history of the past, all these, and more than these, 
shall greet him with no ordinary tokens of regard ; and, 
whilst in tones too earnest to be feigned they shall ex- 
claim, " To you, to you, sir, we are indebted for the 
beginning of those aspirations which have resulted in 
our present happiness and prosperity," the warm press- 
ure of the hand, the earnest and thankful expression 



276 MR. wheeler's lecture. 

of the countenance, and, not unfreqnently, the start- 
ing tear shall attest the sincerity of their words, and 
bespeak emotions which words shall in vain attempt to 
express. Others, again, from the midst of the abun- 
dance which industry and enterprise have thrown 
around them, or from their own happy firesides, shall 
turn a thought now and then to the blighted hopes and 
ruined prospects of the more heedless and vicious 
associates of their early years, — shall tremble in view 
of the gulf which they have themselves so narrowly 
escaped, and hasten to their early guide to express to 
him their heartfelt gratitude for the assistance he has 
rendered them in avoiding the shoals of life, and gain- 
ing the safe and quiet harbor of prosperity and happi- 
ness. 

Ts this a fancy picture ? Has not every faithful 
teacher, rather, who has been in the profession ten 
years, known something of this in his own history ? 
Has he not in the looks, in the language, and some- 
times in the form of epistles, received tokens of grate- 
ful remembrance which have done his heart good, and 
banished every feeling of impatience arising from the 
monotony and trials of his peculiar calling ? and has he 
not set these down as some of the happiest moments of 
his life ? 

Teaching, again, is an eligible profession because it 
presents a wide field for the cultivation of the most 
enlarged benevolence, and gives promise of the most 
extensive usefulness. Indeed, this is more than implied 
in the topics already considered ; a circumstance at- 
tributable rather to the necessary connection of the 



TEACHING AS A PROFESSION. 277 

topics themselves than to any design to allude to it 
there as a motive to influence choice. The view we 
now propose to take of it, is the one just named. 

And here permit me to remark, that, as a field for 
purely benevolent effort, this profession has been greatly 
underrated. In some quarters, there seems to be an 
impression that, in order to be purely benevolent in all 
•our aims and acts, one must necessarily enter the Chris- 
tian ministry. By those who entertain this view, teach- 
ing is ranked as a mere business employment, where 
money is at once the motive and the reward. That this 
view of the case is an erroneous one, I need not at- 
tempt to prove. As I have said before, so I say here, 
I have no invidious comparisons to draw between this 
and other pursuits, as a means of doing good. There 
is no legitimate calling in which a man may not do 
good, if he will. The wretched, the sinful, and the 
exposed, are all around us, and we are not likely soon 
to be in want of opportunities to benefit our fellow men, 
to the full extent of our ability, whatever may be our 
pursuit in life. At the same time, there can be no 
doubt that some pursuits are more directly favorable 
to this object than others ; and of those which may 
justly claim preeminence, our own is certainly one. 

Nor do I think the field is so very circumscribed as 
to invite only men of moderate talents. The most ex- 
alted talents, the most ample resources, geniuses, if 
you will, will here find abundant employment for all 
their gifts. The ignorant are to be instructed, to be 
taught to love useful knowledge, and not to shrink from 
the effort necessary to acquire it. The wayward are 



278 MR. wheeler's lecture. 

to be checked, and vicious tendencies are to be eradi- 
cated, and replaced with the love of virtue. Bad 
habits are to be broken up, and correct ones formed. 
The dangers which threaten the inexperienced all 
along the pathway of life are to be pointed out, and 
motives to perpetual vigilance supplied. The baser 
passions are to be restrained and taught to submit to 
the dictates of reason and conscience, whilst the nobler' 
feelings of our nature, truthfulness, generosity, and 
benevolence, are to be fostered and directed until they 
acquire the ascendency, and prepare the youth for the 
career for which his Creator designed him. And is 
this a business for dollars and cents merely ? Can the 
man who seeks only his daily bread, discharge all the 
duties necessary to the attainment of all these objects ? 
Or, again, are the duties so few and easy of perform- 
ance as to offer adequate employment only to minds of 
an inferior order ?- Can the man of ardent feelings 
and pure benevolence, whose heart is touched with the 
follies and miseries of man, who sees all around him 
the wrecks of humanity, — the consequences of igno- 
rance and vice, — who sees multitudes of youth exposed 
to the same temptations, adopting the same maxims, 
forming the same habits, and more surely tending to 
the same end, as the influencesVhich urge them on are 
becoming more and more numerous and powerful with 
every day's accession to the wealth and appliances of 
society, — can such a one, I say, see in all this nothing 
to enHst his heart and invite his hands ? 

Besides, with reference to the extent and grandeur 
of the probable results, the time of life deserves to be 



TEACHING AS A PROFESSION. 279 

considered. It is much easier to guard one against 
temptation, than to rescue him after he shall once have 
become a slave to his appetites. It is infinitely easier 
to form the character aright at the outset, than to rescue 
it from the shackles of ignorance, and the thraldom of 
long-established habits of sinful indulgence. We may 
rely with more certainty upon saving ten from the 
dangers to which they are exposed, than upon recover- 
ing one who has taken the fatal leap. Nor is it less a 
work of benevolence because it anticipates and prevents 
the evils it fears. He is certainly quite as benevolent, 
and much more wise, who, seeing his neighbor uncon- 
sciously approaching the brink of a dangerous precipice, 
raises his voice to give him timely warning, than if he 
were to wait to bind up his broken limbs, and undertake 
the doubtful task of healing his mangled body and con- 
soling his desponding family. 

It is generally supposed that the professional speaker, 
by his voice and pen, may exert a more extended and 
lasting influence, than it is possible for the teacher to 
do. The orator, it is true, may come in contact with 
more minds, and his thoughts, when committed to paper, 
if worthy of immortality, will continue to influence the 
latest generations. But what, after all, in point of con- 
trolling and moulding influence, is an occasional con- 
tact of mind with mind, even though attended with the 
most sublime and impressive displays of eloquence, 
when compared with the daily and almost constant in- 
tercourse which exists between the minds of the teacher 
and his pupils ? It is notorious that the most splendid 
preachers have often been found inefficient of lasting 



280 MR. wheeler's lecture. 

good, because they lacked the social qualities of good 
pastors ; thus showing, after all, that the teacher is no 
less important than the preacher. Besides, truths ad- 
dressed to the multitude are apt to be powerless for that 
very reason^ unless the object be to arouse the passions. 
But the same truths, addressed pointedly to individuals, 
in the kindly tones of familiar intercourse, and in the 
confidence of personal friendship, often produce the 
most gratifying results. 

Nor are the thoughts of the teacher less durable be- 
cause written on the tablets of the heart, and impressed 
on the characters of his pupils, than if they were written 
on parchment, or entrusted to the printed page. His 
impress is transmitted from generation to generation, 
and though it may become blended with others, and 
lost to vulgar gaze, though it shall wear no badge by 
which its origin may be recognized, yet it has existence 
as truly as the poems of Homer or the orations of 
Cicero ; it has the attribute of immortality, and cannot 
become extinct, nor cease to exert its influence. De- 
mosthenes was surely an eminent orator. Socrates was 
a no less eminent teacher. Who will venture to affirm 
that the influence of the former has been more exten- 
sive, or that it will prove more lasting, than that of the 
latter ? 

Finally, we claim that this profession is an eligible 
one, because it furnishes the most ample opportunities 
for self-improvement. This is not the generally re- 
ceived opinion, we are well aware ; and yet it is accord- 
ing to truth, as we hope to show. For, in the first 
place, what situations aflbrd better opportunities for the 



TEACHING AS A PROFESSION. 281 

cultivation of the moral and social virtues ? The very 
objection so frequently urged against it, that it is a 
severe school for the trial of patience^ is, in reality, a 
recommendation in its favor. It is said Socrates mar- 
ried Xantippe that he might school his patience in 
learning to bear with composure the furious assaults of 
her imperious temper. Once master of himself, under 
the constant showers of abuse from this quarter, and 
few were the occasions which could rob him of his self- 
possession in the other relations of life. Was there 
not genuine philosophy in this ? And shall not a Chris- 
tian teacher manifest as much wisdom as that heathen 
philosopher ? May not the teacher, in endeavoring to 
overcome the unreasonableness and caprice of child- 
hood, secure to himself, indirectly, a blessing of inesti- 
mable value, — a blessing, too, which he could secure 
in no other way ? The same may be said, too, of the 
other moral virtues and social qualities. If kindness 
and forbearance are to be commended to others, they 
must be exemplified in one's own life and conduct. 

If selfishness is to be eradicated, and generosity and 
benevolence to be inculcated, then will it be incumbent 
on the teacher to cultivate a spirit of enlarged liberali- 
ty, and recommend, by his own personal example, the 
qualities which he desires to develop in others. If he 
wish to commend industry and punctuality, then must 
he be industrious and punctual. If he wish to inspire a 
love of truth, and an abhorrence of all dissimulation, 
then must his own character and life be transparent, 
open, honest, and perfectly free from all equivocation 
and mean subterfuges. In a word, the eyery-day duties 



282 MR. wheeler's lecture. 

of his profession impose upon him the most urgent 
Necessity of cultivating, with the greatest care, those 
very qualities which tend most to enrich and ennoble 
the character of man. 

It may seem stranger still to recommend teaching as 
furnishing numerous and valuable opportunities for the 
improvement of the mind ; for most persons, probably, 
would object to the profession for the want of those very 
opportunities for which we are about to recommend it. 
Indeed, the occupation has been termed an intellectual 
tread-mill^ where the mind is forced to trudge its end- 
less round, never enlarging its sphere of observations, 
never adding to its stock of information, and never 
increasing its powers, by tasking more severely its 
innate energies. 

That this gives a correct view of the case, in rela- 
tion to many teachers, is not denied. But the fact that 
these opportunities have been unknown or unimproved 
by a few, or by many even, does not prove that they 
have no existence. 

It is not essential to a well-cultivated mind that one 
acquaint himself with every thing that issues from the 
press. No man can possess a well-balanced mind who 
does not acquire much knowledge by personal observa- 
tion; and, of the knowledge which may be thus ac- 
quired, none is more essential, none contributes so 
much to a man's power, as a knowledge of character. 
Without such knowledge, men of profound erudition 
often expose themselves to ridicule, and find, to their 
no small disappointment, that their power to influence 
others is in no degree proportioned to their intellectual 



TEACHING AS A PROFESSION. 288 

attainments. Kow where, we ask, is there a pursuit 
more rich in opportunities for the studj of character, 
than this ? The teacher must study character if he 
would be at all successful. He must understand the 
mystery of the human heart, and learn to thread, with 
sure and steady pace, the intricate maze of human 
passion and human motive. He must understand by 
what means the confidence is to be secured, the affec- 
tions enlisted, and the will subjected to the dictates of 
a sound judgment and an enlightened conscience. Now 
are such opportunities of no value, and, when improved, 
do they add nothing to a man's intellectual power ? 

Nor, again, do we think the teacher's profession so 
very barren of opportunities for the acquisition of scien- 
tific knowledge, as is generally supposed. Not that we 
believe every man capable of laboring six hours every 
day in school, and still have time and strength to prose- 
cute extended inquiries with reference to every branch 
in which he may be called to give instruction. But he 
mai/ so manage a single branch as ultimately to make 
the most enviable attainments. Suppose, for illustra- 
tion, he is especially inclined to the study of Geogra- 
phy. The first time he takes a class through, he will 
do little more than acquaint himself with the text-book. 
The next time he may call in the aid of fuller and more 
accurate maps, to which he may add a gazetteer, and 
draw largely from the records of voyages of discovery 
and exploring expeditions. He will note with growing 
interest, the face of the country, the size and extent of 
the rivers, lakes, and seas, the height of mountains, the 
pecuharities of climate, the character and habits of the 



284 MR. wheeleb's lectube. 

people, together with then' civil and religious institu- 
tions. At a third reading he may extend the inquiries 
just named and call in the aid of history. By this 
time, what was at first but a slight curiosity, or the 
faint glimmerings of a natural taste for this particular 
study, will have grown into a perfect enthusiasm : his 
desire for geographical knowledge will grow with what 
it feeds upon, until every question pertaining to the 
earth and its inhabitants will have for him a deep and 
thrilling interest. Nor is this interest confined to 
himself. Instead of grumbling at the stereotyped ideas 
which he is compelled to impart, and absolutely killing 
out the last vestige of relish for this particular study, in 
the minds of his pupils, by his own stupidity and dul- 
ness, he kindles with indescribable enthusiasm to impart 
to each succeeding class the ever-increasing richness 
of his own geographical knowledge. 

Or, again, suppose the mind of the teacher is, in an 
especial manner, enlisted in the study of Grammar. 
The whole mystery of human language, and its wonder- 
ful relation to the human mind are opened before him. 
He has but to advance, and an interminable field of 
interesting inquiry opens to his admiring gaze. Or, 
suppose, once more, that his predilections lead him rather 
into the province of Mathematics. He obeys the 
promptings of his natural bias, and anon he is surveying 
with astonishment the triumphs of human art achieved 
through the medium of their application to the practical 
purposes of life ; or, taking a bolder flight, he follows 
the comet in his trackless course, and presumes even 
to weigh the Sun himself in a balance. 



TEACHING AS A PROFESSION. 285 

Having thus far considered, at some length, the 
claims of this profession upon the attention of young 
men of talents and education, it now remains briefly to 
notice the means by which it is to be elevated to its 
proper rank as a profession : and I may be the more 
brief here, because the views to be advanced in this 
connection have been more than implied in the topics 
already discussed. Before specifying any of these 
means, however, I may as well say, in the outset, that 
the responsibility of the work devolves, of right, and of 
necessity, upon those who are most interested, viz., 
upon teachers themselves. The public may have been 
behind their duty, both in the esteem, and in the com- 
pensation, accorded to teachers. But the pubHc is 
somewhat obstinate, and cannot be awed into compli- 
ance with our views and wishes by angry looks and 
wrathful words ; nor can it be melted into contrition by 
the whining, snivelling spirit of those who can do no 
more than discover and complain of their wrongs, but 
have not the courage to defend either themselves or 
their rights. If we are suffering, then, as a class let 
us take the work into our own hands, and push forward 
the calling to such a proud eminence, that its proper 
rank cannot be denied, and then, we may rest assured, 
it will not be denied. But if, like children, we sit 
down and whimper over wrongs before even their exist- 
ence is known or understood, we shall only subject our- 
selves to contempt, without at all improving our condition 
or escaping the injustice under which we labor. Be- 
sides, it is well to cherish much of that spirit which 
scorns to ask a favor, but which, on the contrary^ 

14 



286 MR. wheeler's lecture. 

would refuse any and every consideration -which has not 
been fairly earned, in the estimation of even the most 
uncharitable. 

Upon the supposition, then, that we recognize the 
work as our own, by what means are we to effect it? 
I answer, in the first place, by respecting the profession 
ourselves. We certainly have no right to expect from 
others more exalted views than we entertain for it our- 
fielves. If we seek it as a means, they are justified in 
supposing it not worthy of being pursued as an end. 
If we are constantly complaining of the caprice, the 
waywardness and the stupidity of children, and of the 
interference and dictation of parents and committees, it 
is not strange that they should think it a calhng fit only 
for the stupid and unaspiring. If we are always vent- 
ing our dissatisfaction that our minds are cramped and 
cannot expand, — that theVe are no opportunities for 
extending our acquaintance with the world and with 
science, why should we be surprised that others should 
look here only for ignoramuses and blockheads ? I re- 
peat it, then, if we would have our profession respected, 
we must respect and honor it ourselves. We must 
choose it as our profession, and allow nothing to drive 
us from it. We must not allow ourselves to harbor 
evil thoughts respecting it, much less to speak of it 
with impatience ; and we must, by every possible means, 
discourage its profanation by those who enter it only 
for its " loaves and fishes," who take every occasion to 
traduce it, and who leave it, on the first opportunity, to 
lavish upon it, for the rest of their lives, the choicest 
specimens of their vituperation and abuse. So long as 
the majority of teachers are of this class, who can 



TEACHING AS A PROFESSION. 287 

wonder at the low estimation in which the business is 
held? 

Once more : we must not feel, nor, by our bearing, 
imply that our personal title to respect is at all the less 
for the fact of our being teachers. Let us not blush in 
any company, or under any circumstances, to acknowl- 
edge ourselves such ; but rather cherish a degree of 
professional pride, which would sooner lead us to boast, 
if that were proper ; and if we ever encounter any of 
those contemptible things that are sometimes found in 
the law, though they are not properly of it, and who, 
for want of personal merit, so far pride themselves on 
the supposed merits of their profession, as to presume 
to despise better and more honorable men than them- 
selves, let us have the moral courage and conscious self- 
importance to stand undaunted, and treat such creatures, 
and such conduct, with the silent contempt which is 
their own proper reward. 

Once more : if we wish to see our calling take rank 
as one of the learned professions, we must make it such 
in reality. The practicability of a teacher's becoming 
a truly learned and scientific man has already been 
shown, and some suggestions have been made as to the 
method of effecting so desirable an object. The motives 
which urge us to make the attempt are numerous and 
powerful. That a teacher should be willing to forego 
the personal advantages of liberal acquisitions, — that 
he should voluntarily close his eyes to the glories which 
are ever rising up in the distance to invite him on, — 
that he can content himself to tread the same end- 
less round, assigning the same tasks, asking the same 
printed questions, — which have been prepared by the 



288 MR. wheeler's lecture. 

benevolent author out of pure kindness to the poor 
overworked teacher, — and exacting the same pencilled 
answers, is a matter of no small surprise. That a man 
should think of effecting anything important for his 
pupils bj such a course, — that he should expect to 
impart any interest, or awaken any enthusiasm, — that 
he should hope to escape the contempt, even, of his 
scholars, is still more surprising, because it is opposed 
to the most obvious dictates of common sense. 

But not only do his own interests, and the duty he 
owes to his pupils, but also the honor of his profession, 
demand of every teacher that he make constant prog- 
ress in his own intellectual attainments. Never can the 
profession rise to that rank which its importance in 
society entitles it to take, so long as it is pressed down 
by such an incubus as is found in the general preva- 
lence of ignorant and indolent teachers. 

But whilst we thus urge upon teachers the absolute 
necessity of elevating their standard of personal attain- 
ments, we do not think it follows, as a matter of 
course, that all should aspire to be authors. Not that 
we have anything to say against the preparation of 
school-books by practical teachers ; on the contrary, we 
have a very special desire that all the text-books we are 
compelled to use may be able to claim such a paterni- 
ty ; and besides, we have no doubt that a competent 
man, by suitable effort, may effect more for the honor 
of his profession in this, than in almost any other way. 
What we mainly object to is this ; many teachers, 
eminently successful as teachers, have fallen into the 
very natural error of supposing that their own method 
of imparting instruction involved important and radical 



TEACHING AS A PROFESSION. 289 

principles^ when, in truth, those methods were little 
else than mere tact^ — their own way of doing a thing. 
Under this erroneous view of the case, thej have pub- 
lished what thej had supposed would go far towards 
opening the " royal road to learning ; " but what, in 
the hands of other teachers, has been found less eJQfective 
than their own previous methods. I venture to say, that 
in almost any large town in iNew England, a score of 
arithmetics may be collected, differing so little from 
each other in point of merit, that a sensible teacher 
would not subject himself to the vexation consequent 
upon this multiplicity for the benefit of a choice. What 
is here said of arithmetic, may, with equal propriety, be 
said of the other branches of a common school educa- 
tion. Neither does the evil stop with single books, nor 
is it confined to any one branch of study. When a man 
has once contracted the publishing fever, he somehow 
feels himself impelled to extend the benefit of his lucu- 
brations to the young, in the several departments of 
study. Hence we have, I know not how many series 
of text-books, covering the entire ground of school 
education ; — books, too, which not unfrequently find 
their highest and most philanthropic end, in the employ- 
ment they furnish to book makers and book venders. 

Now against all this we most earnestly and solemnly 
protest. We would have no teacher venture to press, 
with a book on any important branch of study, till he 
has spent years in extending and maturing his views ; 
till, in the opinion of the best qualified and severest 
critics, he has made the most decided advance upon 
previous efforts in the same department. Let it no 
longer be said, to the disgrace of the profession, that, 



290 MR. wheeler's lecture. 

of all nuisances, the multiplicity of school-books is the 
greatest. If our own experience suggests anything of 
value in the mode of instruction, or in anything pertain- 
ing to the interests of education, let it at once become 
public property. We have our journals, which are 
expected to depend, for their interest and value, on the 
contributions of practical teachers. If, then, we have 
made any discovery, if any new and valuable methods 
have suggested themselves, better calculated to awaken 
the interest and promote the improvement of the 
young, let us give them to the world through the medium 
of these journals. If it be dishonorable to monopolize 
a discovery in the medical profession, much more ought 
it to be so regarded in matters of education. 

Again, we are of the opinion that we may further the 
interests and credit of the profession, not only by 
refraining from excessive book-making, but also by 
lavishing recommendations somewhat more sparingly 
upon books of doubtful utility. Many, I am aware, 
recommend with caution ; others console themselves 
with the idea that they have recommended only in 
appearance, and that their expressed views, when 
carefully weighed, will not help to give currency to 
books which, at heart, they do not approve. But in this 
I think they are mistaken. If recommendations be 
couched in such terms as to satisfy the authors 
and publishers of books, even in the smallest degree, 
they cannot but mislead others who are less interested. 
Besides, the very names of some men, affixed to what 
purports to be a recommendation, will go farther, in 
matters of education, than the most minute and definite 
specifications from others. Teachers, and especially 



TEACHING AS A PROFESSION. 291 

those wlio^by experience and success have gained a 
large share of public confidence, are presumed to speak 
understandingly, when they recommend ; consequently, 
committees, who to a great extent are made up of men 
too much engaged in other pursuits to allow of their 
keeping up a very exact acquaintance with school- 
books, feel very little hesitation in adopting whatever 
comes recommended from such sources. This, as we 
all know, is a secret which publishers have not been 
slow to discover, or backward to use for the furtherance 
of their own interests. 

Finally, if we would see the profession of our choice 
elevated to the highest possible condition of which it is 
capable, we must make it, in its relations to society, 
what, in theory, it claims to be. It must be felt and 
admitted to be all but omnipotent in its living, acting 
power to form the character. The men and women of 
the coming age must, through the instrumentality of 
our schools, be noted for their intelligence, for their 
practical wisdom, and for their moral and social virtues. 
Our free institutions, which, in the estimation of our 
wisest and truest patriots, now totter to their founda- 
tions, must be rescued from their perilous state ; they 
must be snatched from the waves of ignorance and 
crime which are rising and surging at their base, 
and planted deep and immovable in the affections of 
an intelligent, virtuous, and patriotic people. But this 
is a work only for those who are prepared to look 
beyond themselves, and merge their own interests in the 
claims of humanity. It is a work for those only who 
have the stoutest hearts and the strongest faith. If 
we would contribute to the accomplishment of so great 



292 MK. wheeler's lecture. 

and so glorious a work, we must consecrate ourselves 
to the business of our calling with a singleness of pur- 
pose, and a fervor of zeal, which nothing can divert or 
abate. This is not a work for associations, nor for 
Model and Normal Schools, however useful they may 
be in their own sphere ; it is not a work for speculations 
on the excellences and defects of different systems of 
education ; nor is it a work for those who are constantly 
sighing for some fixed rule and invariable method of im- 
parting instruction, and controlling the conduct. It is 
a work for teachers individually, in their separate rela- 
tions to their own schools. It is a work which will 
require of every teacher, that he fix no limit to his 
responsibility, short of preparing every one of his 
pupils for their career as moral and accountable beings. 
It is a work in which we must enter the secret cham- 
bers of each heart, and ascertain, with precision, by 
what motives it is to be influenced. It is a work in 
which we must think little of present ease and comfort, 
— in which we must look beyond the present, and 
amidst all1;he trials, and painstaking, and discourage- 
ments, to which we are daily and hourly subjected, be 
able to draw upon the distant future for the richest con- 
solation, and apply to ourselves the sentiment of the 
hero of the Mantuan Bard, 

" Per varies casus, per tot discrimina rerum, 
Tendimus in Latium ; — —=-«-=-===.-__ — " 



CONSTITUTION OP THE ASSOCIATION. 



Article I. This Society shall be called the Massachusetts 
Teachers' Association, and shall have for its objects the im- 
provement of Teachers, and the advancement of the interests 
of popular education. 

Article II. Any practical male teacher, of good moral 
character, within this Commonwealth, may become a member 
of the Association, by signing this Constitution, and paying 
an admission fee of one dollar. 

Article III. Each member shall be furnished with a cer- 
tificate of membership, having the seal of the Association and 
the signature of the Recording Secretary ; and any member 
in good standing, shall, at his own request, receive a certifi- 
cate of honorable discharge. 

Article TV. Ladies engaged in teaching, shall be invited 
to attend the regular meetings of the Association. 

Article Y . The annual meetings of the Association shall 
be held at such place and time as the directors may designate, 
and notice shall be given at the previous meeting. 

Article YI. The officers of the Association shall be a 
President, fourteen Yice Presidents, a Recording and a Cor- 
responding Secretary, a Treasurer and twelve Counsellors, 
who, with the President and Secretaries, shall constitute a 
Board of Directors. These officers shall be elected by ballot 

at the annual meeting. 
14* 



294 CONSTITUTION. 

Article YII. It sball be the duty of the President to 
preside at all meetings of the Association, provided, however, 
that in his absence, or at his request, one of the Vice Presi- 
dents shall preside. 

Article YIII. The Eecording Secretary shall keep a 
record of the doings of the Association, and of the Directors, 
and shall notify all meetings. 

Article IX. The Corresponding Secretary, subject to the 
order of the Directors, shall be the organ of communication 
■with other societies and with individuals. 

Article X. The Treasurer shall collect and receive all 
moneys for the Association, and shall present a written report 
of his receipts and disbursements at the annual meeting, and 
whenever required by the Board of Directors. He shal^ 
make no payment except by order of the Board. 

Article XI. The Board of Directors shall have the gen- 
eral superintendence of the interests of the Association, with 
authority to devise and carry into execution such measures 
as will, in their opinion, promote its objects. They shall 
engage suitable persons to deliver addresses and lectures at 
the meetings of the Association, and make necessary arrange- 
ments for the accommodation of the Annual and other meet- 
ings. 

Article 12. The Constitution may be altered at any reg- 
ular meeting, by a vote of two-thirds of the members present 
at said meeting and voting thereon, — provided that the 
motion for amendment shall be made at a previous meeting. 



INDEX. 



Association, its origin, p, 9. — Its name and objects, (Const., 
Art. i,) 15. — Membership of, (Art. ii,) 15. — Certificate of 
membership and discharge, (Art. iii,) 15, 176. — Seal of, (Art. 
iii,) 15, 176. — OfEcers of, how elected, (Art. vi,) 15. — Con- 
vention authorized to call the first meeting of, 16. — Proceed- 
ings, 21 to 33, 171 to 176.— Its influence, 94. 

Astrology, 187. 

Algebra, 187. 

Associations, arguments in favor of, 9, 10, 38. — Resolution in 
regard to forming, 175. 

Arabia, education in, 187. 

Albany Co. {N. Y.] Teachers' Association, 11. 

Alexander. — Charles XII. — Duke of Burgundy, 46. 

Alfieri, remark of in regard to learned men, 180. 

Arnold, Dr., 65. — In the management of his schools, independent, 
53. — Letter in reference to a candidate for the office of teacher, 
53. — His views in regard to classical studies, 252, 253. — On 
the character of the Grrecian and Roman as resembling that 
of the Anglo Saxon, 254, 255. 

Armory at Springfield, as illustrative of system and division of 
labor, 110, 111. 

Action and thought, which the leading object in education, 141. 

Actioi;i, animates but narrows. — Illustration of this, 140. 

Appearances, often deceive, 139. 

Abstract subjects, how to be presented, 151. 

Attainments in classical schools, standard of raised, 229, 237. 

"Accidence," Cheever's, 234. 

Alfred, King, 193. 

"Academy," use of the term, 23Q. 

Archimedes, 191. 

Aristotle, Plato, Cicero and Tacitus, in one sense not ancient 
writers, 255. 

Aristotle, 191. 



296 INDEX. 



Aspasia, her society sought by Pericles, Alcibiades, Socrates, 190. 

Aristides, 260. 

Authority, must have substance to it, 77. 

Ancients, we are apt to place a low estimate upon their attain- 
ments, 184, 185, 186. 

Athens, education in, 188, 189, 190. 

Bible, resolution in regard to use of, 24. 

Blessings, meant for tests, 88. 

Benevolence, necessary in government, 90. 

Boys, an analogy between their conduct and that of men, 101, 
102. — In what they should be taught, 103. — Increasing spirit 
of insubordination among, 156. 

Books, for the school, to suit the unreasonable demands of the 
public, and the pretensions of the modern recitationists, 148. 

Boards of Education, 235, 238. 

Bacon, 48,191, 193, 242, 196. [247. 

Bunsen, Chevalier, his account of Prussian training for teachers, 

Browne, Sir Thomas, remark of, 250. 

Bates, S. W., lecture of, 172.— Report of, 21. 

Castes, 261. 

Charlemagne, 193. 

Circular of Essex Co. Teachers' Association, 9. 

Clerical profession, 272. 

Competence, from teaching, 264. 

Conservatist, 197. 

Convention at Worcester, 10, 13. 

Convention, membership of, 11. — Its proceedings, 9 to 17. 

Conversations, respecting passing events, example of, 130, 131. 

Constitution, committee to draft one, 12. — Report of committee 
to draft it, 15. — Alteration of, (Art. xii,) 16. — Amendment 
to, proposed by Mr. G. F. Thayer, 28, 172, 173. 

Cowles, Rev. J. P., lecture of, 67. 

Coleridge, quotation from, 63. 

Corporal punishment, 22, 23. — Argument for a fortiori, 81, 82. — 
Attempt to abolish it, idle, 83. — "When and how to be applied, 
133 to 137. — Wrong notions concerning, 257, 258. 

Censure, 87. 

Commands, not to be repeated, 89. 

Childhood, its importance as a period for implanting the principle 
of obedience, 207, 256. 

Children, ignorance of, not confined to the subjects usually taught 
in the schools, 95, 96. — Should be taught self-scrutiny, hon- 
esty of purpose, 97. — Children, wrong notions of, implanted 
by false ideas of reform, 205, 206. 
Cooperation, of pupils, essential and how gained, 112. — Causes 
which tend to weaken it, 113- 

Chipman, remark of, 208. 

Common School Journal on corporal punishment, 136. 



INDEX. 297 



Common Scliools, in relation to higher seminaries, 221. — System 
cooperative with higher seminaries, 245, 249. 

Change in teachers, bad consequences, 161. 

Classes, arranging a school into, 161, 162. 

College, first idea of, in New England, 223. 

College studies, wrong notions concerning, 251. — Moral discipline 
in, correctly managed, 256. i 

Colleges and Academies not fostered by the State, 238, 239. — Not 
mentioned in the reports of the Board of Education, 238. 

Cologne, cathedral of, 229. 

Cheever, Ezekiel, 233. 

Connecticut, policy in regard to schools and Yale College, 239. 

Conscience not a sure judge of right and wrong, 202, 203, 204, 205. 

Cicero, 192, 241, 255. 

Cato the censor, 260. 

Classical studies, their advantages, 252, 253. — Not to be pursued 
in the common schools, 253. — Not appreciated in this coun- 
try, 254. 

Classics, a knowledge of essential to all teachers, 254. 

Cornelia, 167, 190. 

Common people, the, in Arabia and Egypt, 187. 

Cyrus the Great, his policy in regard to education, 188. 

De Tocqueville in regard to the estimation in which woman is 
held in America, 189. 

Directors, Board of, (Art. xi,) 16. 

Duties of the profession, resolution concerning, 23. 

Disobedience considered in reference to its effect upon the pupil, 
75. — Must be followed by suffering, 89. — What to be done in 
case of, 90. 

Discipline of schools should conform to what we see in nature, 88, 
89. — Should teach the lesson that hereafter we shall be re- 
warded or punished, according as we are good or bad, 89. — 
"Wrong notion concerning in common schools, 89. — As a prin- 
ciple, 182. 

Decision, firmness, &c., to be tempered with mildness, 107. 

Drilling vs. teaching, 154, 155. 

Dissenters, tests to exclude them, 243. 

Democracy, 208. 

Essex Co. Teachers' Association, 9, 13, 38. 

Encouragement to children by way of approval, 86. 

Exhortation to lift our thoughts to God, 91, 92. 

Exhortation to teachers, 167. 

Eye service, 98, 99. 

Education, Persian policy of, as described by Xenophon, 47. — 
Plato, 48. — Lord Bacon's view, 48. — The teacher's work in, 
its dignity, 49. — What it consists in, 149 to 152. — Universal, 
221, 244. — Early system of, adapted to future nationality, 
224, 245. — New England system of, 226. — System of in other 
lands, 226. — In other countries, to be observed and profited 



298 INDEX. 



from, 226, 227, 228. — Adaptability of foreign systems to our 
own institutions to be examined before trying, 228, 231, 232. 
Progress in, 229. — The old system to be studied, in view of 
improving the new, 230, 231. — Early views and policy of, 
234, 235. — Liberal, wrong notions concerning, 240, 241, 250, 
251. — Liberal, benefits of, popular, not personal, 240, 241. — 
Liberal, conduces to the glory and safety of the State, 242, 
243, 244. — Liberal, personal advantages of, and results, 241, 
242. — Liberal, in refining the mind, 241. — Foreign systems of, 
differ in their tendency from ours, 246. — Its province, 142. 
— "What constitutes it, 179. — Considered with reference 
to different stages in human existence, 179, 180, 181. — All 
systems of agree in one particular, 182. — A science and an 
art, 182. — Physical, moral, and intellectual education, their 
mutual relation, 182, 183. — Plans for, difierent under differ- 
ing circumstances, 183, 184. — Patriarchal, 186. — Education 
in Athens and Rome, 188, 189, 190. — In Egypt and Arabia, 
186, 187.— In the Middle Ages, 192.— Under the institution 
of Chivalry, 193. — No such thing as abstract education, 194. 
— How affected by the spirit of the age, 195, 196. 

Educationists must study the spirit of the age, and adapt their 
plans accordingly, 195. 

Educated and uneducated, the different views of, 212, 213. 

Eaton, Nathaniel, 234. 

Egypt, education in, 186. — Discoveries by the people of, 187. — 
Enthusiast, the, his character and influence, 198. 

Fear, a principle in the ruling of the moral universe, 78. — Not 
base to appeal to it as a principle, 78. 

Fault, not to find it implies a want of discrimination between 
right and wrong, 88. 

French infidel, assertion of, — its moral, 103. 

Formalist, his character, 145. 

Fathers of New England, their policy in regard to education, 221, 
222, 223, 225. 

Faculties, perceptive and reflective, training of, 212, 213. 

Generalization, 214. 

Goths, 47. 

Greatness and goodness, — Coleridge, 63. 

Government not ephemeral in its nature, 67. — Necessity of, 70, 
71. — Over children its necessity a foHiori, 70. — What kind 
shall we adopt, 71, 72. — Of the school, not republican in 
character, 72. — Vain to talk of all mercy, 77. — Love and fear 
to be blended in its exercise, 78, 79. — Wisely and skilfully 
administered, in what it consists, 103. — In school, patern^ 
in its character, 163, 164. — Art of, wrong notion in regard 
to, 165 — Reasonableness of it must be understood by the 
governed, 166. 

Goethe, quotation from, 140. 



INDEX. 299 



" Grammar Sch.ool," first meaning of the term in New England, 

236. 
" Gentleman," a, notion of in England, 244. 
Greene, S. S., lecture of, 29. 
Geniuses, 266. 
Generosity, 274. 
Hale, Chief Justice, 205. 
Hale, Joseph, lecture of, 139. 
Honor and Wealth, — Coleridge, 63. 
High School, Springfield, manual of conduct in, 118. 
Hypocrisy, 139. 

Hammond, Charles, lecture of, 173. 
Hamilton, Alexander, his notion of a soldier, 188. 
Incorporation, Act of, 24. 
Infant Schools, wonderful exhibitions of accounted for, 213, 214, 

215, 216. 
Insubordination, the teacher's duty in reference to it, 76, 77. 
Israel, children of, needed many ordinances, 80. — Education 

among them, 186. 
Indulgence, true nature of, 84, 88. — Of Nature, 85. 
Instruction, attractiveness of an aid in government, 94. 
Impulsiveness, 113. — In pupils variously manifested, 99, 100. 
Ignorance of duties on the part of the pupO, 113. 
Ignorant and illiterate, the, 200, 201. 
Inattention, etc., 114. 
Instruction, thorough, 139. 
Institutions of learning on this continent differ from those of 

Europe, 231. 
Indian, with reference to education, 179. 
Individuality, each nation shows it, 193, 194. 
Jerome, 192. 
Jupiter's log, 88. 

Justice taught by the Persians in their schools, 96. 
Kett, concerning the Komans, 191, 192. 
Karmil, temple of, 187. 
Kindness, its power, 90, 91. 
Law, 271, 272. 

Lectures, printing of, committee thereon, 33, 172, 174. 
Ladies to be invited to attend the meetings of the Association, 

(Art. iv,) 15. 
Legislative aid, 24. 
Letter of Albany Co. Teachers' Association, 11. — OfMr. D. P. 

Page, of Albany, 13.— Of Mr. Gorham D. Abbot, 14. 
Louis Philippe, early training of, 46. 
Leonidas and the "Three Hundred," 46, 188. 
Love and Fear, as principles in government, considered, 79. 
Love, law of in discipline, 257. 
Libraries in Schools, 129, 130. 
Locke, 194, 206. 



300 INDEX. 



Language, wliat is it, 142, 143. 

" Learned Man," views of, 180, 201. 

Luther, 193, 196. 

Lycurgus, 188. 

Meetings of teachers, instrumental in good, 9.— Annual, time and 
place, (Art. v.) 15. 

Mind, impressions upon it compared to those in fossil remains, 
42. — Its delicate structure, 43. — Training of it should rank as 
a profession, 44. — Impressions upon, 104. — Training of com- 
pared to managing a vessel, 104. — Diversion upon wrong 
objects, 114. — Parallel between mind and matter, 211. 

Manual of duties for the pupil, a complete system,119 to 125. — Of 
directions for the pupil, advantages of considered, 125, 128. — 
Objections urged against the plan met, 127. 

Miscellaneous duties of the pupil, 124. 

Music in schools. — Quotation from Pope's Ceha, on the subject, 
131. 

Memory, too much reliance upon it, 145, 146, 147. — The training 
of it not to be made the prime object in education, 150. — 
How to be exercised in teaching, 154, 216, 217. 

Maturity of children, the public look for more than can be ex- 
pected, 147. 

Means to be used in discipline and teaching, 163, 164. 

Moral character, to be developed as well as the intellectual, 162. 

Mather, Cotton, concerning Eaton, 234. 

Moral discipline, mutual relation of Common Schools and higher 
seminaries in reference thereto, 255. 

Marshall, 260. 

Moore, Sir Thomas, 260. 

Medical profession, 272. 

Nature, her punishments, 81, 82. — Kind of discipline she exer- 
cises, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86. — In teaching not to be contra- 
vened, 147. 

New schools, opening of should be celebrated, 108. 

Neatness in school, 121. 

New York, State of, her policy in regard to the literary institu- 
tions, 238. 

Normal Schools of Prussia, 246. — In this country, 248, 249. 

Numa Pompilius, 189. 

Officers, duties of, (Art. 7, 8, 9, 10.) 15, 16.— Of 1845, '6, 7, 23, 
29, 173. 

Obedience to authority, consideration of, 74, 75, 76, 206, 207, 
208. — Principle of to be secured, 79. — Not in every case 
secured by wisdom and kindness combined, yet these are 
essential to obedience, 91. — Never to be gained by bargaining 
for it, 90, 206. 

Order in school, reasons for maintaining it, 95. 

Old World, schools and universities of, 222. 

Orator, 279, 280. 



INDEX. 301 



Page D. P., Letter to tlie Convention, 13. 

Punishment, corporal, resolution concerning, 22, 23. — Severity 
of, 80, 81. 

Parish. Ariel, Lecture of, 93. 

Pupilage, its period, its importance, 42. 

Pulpit, its office, 45. 

Puritan character, its basis, 62. 

Punishment, consequences of withholding it when due, 84. — By 
God exhibits design, 82, 83. — Of man inflicted on his fellow 
insignificant, compared with those God inflicts, 83. — Inex- 
pedient to declare beforehand what it shall be, 128. — Pre- 
ventive measures, 129 to 136. — Yiews in regard to mildness 
of, 133, 134, 135. — The idea of retribution connected with 
it, 260. 

Plutarch, 191. 

Praise and Censure, 86, 87. 

Persians, the, sent their children to school to leaxn Justice* — 96. 
Education among, 188. 

Preventive discipline, 115. — Example of, 115. 

Profession, choice of, 216. — Motives which determine, 262. — Of 
teaching, its claims, 261 to 292. 

Professions, other, compared with teaching, 272, 273. 

Parental authority, 262. 

Patience cultivated in teaching, 281. 

Promptness in school, 121. 

Parents of your pupils, calling on them, 129. 

Prejudices, popular, injurious to the influence of higher semina- 
ries, 238, 239, 250, 251. 

Principles, seldom a new one discovered, 185. 

Recitations, 123. 

Reformer, 197, 198, 199, 200 to 206. 

Resolution on expediency of forming a State Association, 12. — 
Complimentary to Mr. Page, 14. — Approval of educational 
movement in New York, 21. — In reference to the American 
Institute, 22. On school discipline, 22. — In reference to 
female teachers, 25. 

Resolution in reference to the Board of Education, 32. — Object of 
the Association, 32. 

Report of Treasurer and Committee thereon, 29, 30. 

Religion, government and education, the engrossing topics of all 
times, 181, 182, 220. 

Roman like the Yankee among the ancients in availing himself of 
the principles discovered by the natives, 191. 
, Rome, civilization in, 189, 190. — Estimation in which woman was 
held, 189. 

Romance in morals, 63. 

Rod, use of, 87. 

Rules of school to be few, 79, 80, — ^To be multiplied only a« oc- 
casion demands, 80. 



302 INDEX. 



Rewards of God to tlie faithful, 86, 87. 

Republic, simplicity of its first days adorned with shining virtues 
and talents, 230. 

Rousseau, 194, 195, 208, 217. 

Reflective faculties and the memory to be trained together, 216, 
217. 

Smith, Elbridge, lecture of, 37. 

State, what constitutes — Sir Thomas Moore, 45. 

School supervision, its bearing on the teacher, 49, 50, 51. — Some 
of the evils of the present system, 52, 53, 54, 55. 

Supervision, why not extend it over all other callings as well as 
over that of the teacher, 50, 51. 

School discipline, popular heresy concerning, fraught with dan- 
ger to the higher institutions and to the State, 259, 260. 

School Committees, this feature in our system as it at present 
works, objected to, 60, 61. 

School and Teacher, mutual relation between, 68.^ 

School government, first principles of, 67. — Requires but one 
head, 73, 74. 

School, good of, 69. — Compared to a family, 73.— A miniature 
community, 93. 

Schools, in large ones, teachers should be independent one of the 
other, and in a great degree independent of superior con- 
trol, 159, 160. — Earliest order of the Legislature in Massa- 
chusetts, concerning, 224. — Grades of, 224, 222. 

Schools and Teachers of New England in olden times, 233. 

Schools and Colleges, wrong notions concerning, 236, 237, 239. 
Their true and mjutual relation understood in olden times, 
237. 

Scholars to be disciplined so as to fit them for performing their 
duties to their fellows, 96. 

School-rooms, management of, 93. 

Spartans, praised deception skilfully practised, 99. 

" Seminary," use of the term, 236. 

Self-denial in pupils a fruit of skilful administration, 99. 

Serf, the, in reference to education, 179. 

Self-possession, importance of, 105, 106. 

Self-government of a school considered an impossibility, 72, 73. 

System, importance of in schools, 110, 111. 

Success of great men attributable often to system^ 110. 

Stillness in school, 120. — Perfect for a minute, its eifect, 131. 

Scholarship, ideas of, 122. 

Society in America, its springs of action and tendencies, 208, 209, 
210. 

Science, psuedo, 146. 

Sincerity, its importance in discipline, 164, 165. 

Sound principle our basis in government, 166. 

Smith, Sir Thomas, idea of a ♦' gentleman," 244. 

Sherwin, Thomas, lecture of, 174. 



INDEX. 303 



Sparta, education in, 188*. 

Salary of teacher, 264, 265, 266. 

Teacher's Journal, committee concerning it, 24.— -Resolves there- 
on, 31, 172, 174. 

Thanks, votes of, 17, 31, 33, 176. 

Teachers not members invited to participate in the discussions, 
27, 28. 

Teaching, its claims as a distinct profession, 37. — As a profession 
founded on the principle of division of labor, 39. — Allied to 
the clerical profession, 40. — Followed more as a means than 
an end, 40. — Ambition to become distinguished not so much 
a motive in this as in other professions, 40. — Regarded as 
furnishing little scope for the mind, 41. — Not considered 
worthy the attention of gifted minds, 41. — Responsibility of 
in reference to the mind, 42, 43. — In relation to political 
economy, 45. — Society not allowed its claims, 49. — Skill in 
teaching merely the book, not desirable, 145. — Popular mode 
of, consequences of it, 145, 146, 147. — Skill to teach mere 
forms, shows want of capacity to teach, 146, 147. — In what 
light considered by the other professions, 250. — Its relation 
to the present and coming age, 156, 157. 

Text-books should be selected by the teacher himself, and not by 
school committees, 58. 

Training, moral results of as exhibited in the character and for- 
tunes of two citizens, 101, 102. 

Teacher, what required of him, 275.— His reward, 275, 276.— His 
influence, 277, 278, 279. 

Teaching as a profession, 261 to 292. 

Themistocles, 273, 274. 

Teacher, under too much control, 49. — Estimation in which he 
is likely to be held in future years, 64, 65. — His sphere, 68, 
69. — His qualifications and usefulness, 94. — Should enforce 
principles of action, not mere eye service, 97, 98, 99, 100. — 
What his special attention should be directed to, 100. — 
Questions to put to himself, 103, 104. — How to conduct him- 
self on entering his field of labor, 105. — On commencing 
his labors «' should define his position," 107, 108. — Busi- 
ness habits and tact of, 108, 109. — The judicious teacher, 
149, 150, 151. — What respect he should pay to public opin- 
ion, 157. — Should study the mind and character of each 
pupil, 161. — Should be a model for his pupils, 109. 

Teachers should not be objects of scrutinizing watchfulness, 51. — 
Best able to judge of schools, 55. — Reports of, in regard to 
schools advocated, 55. — Not favorably situated to arrive at 
eminence, 5%, — Path of fame should be open to them, 58. — 
Manner of spending their time marked out by committees 
not tolerated, 59. — Greater confidence should be reposed in 
them, 61.— Exhortations to, 62, 63, 64, 65.— Should labor for 
those who come after them, 63, 64.— Early teachers of New 
England, their influence, 245. 



304 INDEX. 



Thouglit, 43. — "Expands, but lames," 140. — First dawnings of 

undefinable, 151. 
Theorists, 67, 68. 
Training of children, 86. 

Trifling, communications, wilful neglect, etc., in scholars, 115. 
Transgressors, ho-^ to be treated when all preventive modes fail, 

132. 
Thorough teaching, in what it consists, 142. 
Truancy, debate, resolution and committee thereon, 175. 
University, system of in Great Britain, its conservative power, 

242. 
Utterance, skill in, time wasted in producing it for show, 143. 
Verbal memory, cultivation of, illustration, 143, 144. 
Volubility, school-room, for show,';141. 
Virginia, 190. 

Words, quotation from Pope, 142. 
Woolsey, President, his opinion of the progress of education, 

229. 
Washington and Pranklin self-made, 250, 251. 
Wheeler, N., lecture of, 176. 
Washington, 269. 
Wheeler, lecture of, 261. 
Youth, momentous consequences resulting from impressions upon, 

69. 
Young men, 263. 
Yale CoUege, 229, 251. 



THE 



MASSACHUSETTS TEACHEE, 

EDITED BY A COMMITTEE OF THE 

MASSACHUSETTS TEACHERS^ ASSOCIATION, 

Is published montlily, at One Dollar per annum in ad- 
vance, or One Dollar and Fifty Cents at the close of 
the year. The postage throughout the United States 
is six cents per annum, paid in advance. Each num- 
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Specimen copies are supplied gratuitously, on applica- 
tion to the Publisher. 

Volumes uniformly bound in cloth, are for sale at 
One Dollar and Fifty Cents each. Volume VI com- 
mences with the year 1853. 

SAMUEL COOLIDGE, 

PUBLISHER, 

No. 16 Devonshire St., Boston. 



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